Vanderbilt will unite with tens of millions of people in more than 240 cities around the world to make a bold statement about climate change and energy conservation by doing something quite simple on Saturday, March 28 at 8:30 p.m. – turning off lights for one hour.

Vanderbilt is one of the Nashville “icons” that will be turning off its lights as Nashville participates in Earth Hour, a global movement sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund to address climate change and energy conservation. Nashville is one of seven flagship cities in the United States asked to participate this year. Both Mayor Karl Dean and Gov. Bredesen are participating and supportive of this event.  The Governor is ordering all state-owned buildings to go dark throughout Tennessee while Mayor Dean is working with the downtown businesses and flagship members to orchestrate a dark out of the downtown area from the Sommet Center to the river.

Faculty and staff are asked to participate by turning off all non-essential lights in your office, lab, classroom and area before leaving work for the weekend or during this time period. Vanderbilt will be darkening most non-essential outdoor lighting on main campus during Earth Hour as well as decorative lighting on iconic buildings such as the Kirkland Hall clock tower and the Wyatt Center dome. The process of turning off the outdoor lighting will begin at 7:30 p.m. and could possibly extend through 10:30 p.m. as Plant Operations staff work to turn them all back on after the 9:30 p.m. end of Earth Hour. 

If you will be on campus, several fun events are planned during this time:  Students Promoting Environmental Awareness and Responsibility (SPEAR) will host a “Chill Out in the Dark” party on Alumni Lawn featuring food, drinks, glow Frisbee, acoustic music by students and a symbolic candlelight display.  Residential Education and The Commons will be hosting a Dark-Out Drumline on Commons Lawn featuring marching band and African drumming.  Glow sticks and necklaces will be handed out in a variety of areas while glow-in-the-dark Frisbee and kickball games are planned throughout the residence hall areas.  Carmichael Towers will have a competition to see which Tower has the most window lights turned off during Earth Hour.  For a list of Student Earth Hour events, please visit www.vanderbilt.edu/sustainvu/earth_hour_events.php.     

Please do not do anything that might cause a safety concern, such as use candles in residence halls or reduce lighting levels to the point where anyone feels unsafe.  The Sustainability and Environmental Management Office (SEMO) is working closely with a large coalition of stakeholders to plan this event, including VPD, to ensure that our participation is as positive as possible for our faculty, staff, students and the community. Thank you in advance for your participation to make this exciting event a success.

For more information on other ways to conserve energy on Earth Hour or anytime throughout the year, please visit www.vanderbilt.edu/sustainvu/thinkone .

Contact: SustainVU, sustainvu@vanderbilt.edu