Earth Hour Campaign
- Views 125
- Writer SMU
- 작성일 2024-03-15
As the imminent threat of climate crisis started affecting our daily lives, making us realize the urgent need of countermeasures, ESG has become an important keyword of our society. Universities are no exception to this trend. Sookmyung Women＇s University has announced ESG practice as one of the key goals of the Sookmyung 2030 Vision and is engaged in various activities to cope with climate change and give back to the local societies. For example, upcycling fashion shows of the Department of Clothing & Textiles, smart farm research support to reduce carbon emission, and campus town projects to revitalize the local economy are ongoing. Starting this year, the Communication Team launched a new special program, Green Zone, to introduce various ESG activities of Sookmyung Women＇s University. Let＇s listen to the story of Sookmyung University students, who are making the Earth sustainable through monthly SM news, newsletters at the Green Zone.
On the last Saturday of March at 8:30 PM, major landmarks around the world face darkness without a single light. This is because Earth Hour, the world＇s largest environmental movement campaign, is held.
Earth Hour is a worldwide campaign of turning lights off to reduce light pollution and power consumption. Earth Hour, which started in Sydney, Australia in 2007, has become a global campaign involving more than 7,000 cities and 18,000 landmarks in 190 countries. Korea also has participated in this campaign by turning off lights of landmarks such as the National Assembly Building, the N Seoul Tower, and the Hangang Bridge.
According to the Ministry of Environment, by turning off light for just 10 minutes in public institutions, apartments, and major attractions, we can save 41,189 kWh (kilowatt hours) worth of electricity and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20.3 tons. This is equivalent to the annual carbon dioxide absorption of whopping 3,077 30-year-old pine trees, and it is the same as not driving 4,486 cars during rush hour.
You can save the Earth by participating for an hour. It is not a huge project nor a grandiose plan, but our every day practice can be a great help. That is why our university is implementing the Sookmyung Earth Hour Campaign this year.
With Snowflakes, Sookmyung Earth Hour
Sookmyung Women＇s University held the Sookmyung Earth Hour Campaign for two days from Sat, Mar. 25 to Sun, Mar. 26 with SEM, an environmental leadership group under the Student Support Center. Students turned off the lights on Mar. 25 at 8:30 PM to film and upload a video of that participation on their Instagram Stories. In this two-day campaign, 45 students participated in their own spaces, and 20 first-comers were presented with tumblers to encourage the use of multiple containers. The students’ videos of the campaign can be found on the school＇s official account Instagram and YouTube channels.
Instagram Video: https://bit.ly/3JYIybl
YouTube Video: https://youtu.be/G3T17RiZ12Q
Kwon Ji-soo (Department of Public Relations & Advertising), one of the participants, said, "It was honestly a bit inconvenient to turn off the light for about an hour, but I think it was worth it because it was for the Earth. I would like to participate in more campaigns run by the university in the future." Kang Da-young (Department of Piano) stated, "It was impressive to look outside the window because it was brighter than the inside during the lights-out time." She added, "I want to have my own Earth Hour time from occasionally in the future."
Yoo Ji-won (Department of Chemical And Biological Engineering), chair of SEM, who co-planned the campaign said, "I think Earth Hour is a campaign that reminds people how big the impact of activities for protecting the environment can be. She added, “I was honored to have this opportunity to plan this meaningful event with the school.”
* Source : https://www.sookmyung.ac.kr/en/news/sm-news.do?mode=view&articleNo=83375