Glasgow switches off in support of Earth Hour

Glasgow City Council is supporting this year's Earth Hour by switching off non-essential lights for an hour from 8.30pm on Saturday 19 March.

Earth Hour is a worldwide awareness raising campaign co-ordinated by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).  Hundreds of millions of people will participate in the event which offers an opportunity to think about the small things that we can do that lead to a big difference. The more lights that are switched off, the bigger the impact for the campaign will be.

Across Glasgow, iconic buildings including the Glasgow City Chambers; Riverside Museum; People's Palace & Winter Gardens; Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum; the Mitchell Library along with landmarks including the Clyde Arc Bridge; Doulton Fountain and Needle in Glasgow Green will take part in Earth Hour. Glasgow Cathedral (courtesy of Historic Scotland), Cranhill Water Tower (courtesy of Scottish Water) and the University of Glasgow will also be involved.

Major shopping centres across Glasgow will also take part in the event this year including Buchanan Galleries, St Enoch Centre, The Forge and Silverburn. The Millennium Hotel and The Piper Bar both in George Square will also take part again.

These iconic Glasgow buildings, landmarks and businesses will join over 170 countries, 7000 cities and towns, as well as world renowned structures such as the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Sydney Opera House and the Acropolis in Athens, Greece, in switching off their lights.

Other businesses around George Square have agreed to participate in "Pass the Panda" where "Kelvin", the WWF panda mascot, is being placed in a separate business each night throughout this week and the public will be able to take selfies and share via Twitter. Businesses taking part include Jamie's Italian, Elia Restaurant and the Counting House. The SSE Hydro are also participating by switching off their external lighting for the hour.

Glasgow Chamber of Commerce is also encouraging businesses in the city to switch their office lights off for this year's Earth Hour.

For more information on Earth Hour visit wwfscotland.org.uk/earthhour

For information on "Pass the Panda" visit http://earthhour.wwf.org.uk/will-you-passthepanda-2/#.Vt7gJdLcvcs