“Earth Candle-Night” is a unique attempt at merging and celebrating two worldwide events, namely ‘Earth Days’ and ‘Candle-Night’, which aim at increasing consciousness for the conservation of energy and protection of the environment.
‘Candle Night’ is usually organized during June & December solstices (in Japan & countries of the Northern Hemisphere). For its part, ‘Earth Day’ is organized on 22nd April and the new Earth-Hour (Sydney movement) on 29th March. All these activities go in the same direction, which is the preservation of energy and Mother Earth. The founding principles of Earth-Days and Candle Night were at the genesis of the ‘Earth Candle Night’.
Earth Candle Night is a hybrid of ‘Earth Day’ (USA) and ‘Candle-Night’ (Japan) .As a sign of solidarity to all the above three movements, it was decided to annually celebrate the same all across Mauritius on the first Friday of the month of May.
Earth Hour/ Earth Days
The first ‘Earth Day’ was organized in 1970 so as to promote environmental citizenship and year round progressive action worldwide. The organizers of earth day later on founded the Earth Day Network (EDN). Earth Day is the only event celebrated simultaneously around the globe by people of all backgrounds, faiths and nationalities. More than a half billion people participate in our campaigns every year. EDN's international network reaches over 17,000 organizations in 174 countries, while the domestic program engages 5,000 groups and over 25,000 educators coordinating millions of community development and environmental protection activities throughout the year. The earth day is usually celebrated on 22nd April of each year.
Earth-Hour Initiative:
This was spearheaded by the inhabitants of Sydney (Australia), largely inspired by the Japanese Candle-Night movement.On 31 March 2007, 2.2 million people and 2100 Sydney businesses turned off their lights for one hour - Earth Hour. This massive collective effort reduced Sydney's energy consumption by 10.2% for one hour, which is the equivalent effect of taking 48,000 cars off the road for a year.
With Sydney icons like the Harbour Bridge and Opera House turning their lights off, and unique events such as weddings by candlelight, the world took notice. Inspired by the collective effort of millions of Sydneysiders, many major global cities are joining Earth Hour in 2008, turning a symbolic event into a global movement.
In Mauritius, the ‘First Steps Network’ (FSN) was the first to promote the activity. The 1st earth hour initiative, with the slogan ‘Une Heure Pour Notre Terre’ was held at Domaine de Lagrave on Friday 04th May 2007.
Candle-Night
The "Candle Night" was originally initiated by several of Japanese environmental non-governmental organizations (NGOs), including the Association to Preserve the Earth (Daichi-O-Mamoru-Kai), the Sloth Club and the Japan for Sustainability (JFS).Promoted under the slogan of "Turn off the lights, and take it slow," the activity officially started in 2003 in Japan. Nowadays, the Japan's Ministry of the Environment (MOE) has added its official support to this event.
Candle-Night (CN) is a voluntary participatory event initiated by Japan’s environmental NGOs, spearheaded by the ‘Japanese Candle-Night Committee’ (JCNC). The “Candle” is a symbol for lighting “slow night”. CN does not aim to make a protest, or to claim anything, it is an activity for raising concerns about energy and environmental problems. It also aims at fostering a sense of unity. CN is just an opportunity to enjoy the night slowly and to realize something special when you turn off the light for just two hours. It offers an open opportunity for people to enjoy themselves in their own ways: spending the time with the family or a loved one, enjoying quiet time, looking at the beauty of the stars, reviewing their lifestyles, or thinking about peace, the global environment, energy saving.