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This year for Earth Hour the World Wildlife Foundation program and the cast and crew of the Amazing Spider-Man 2 are teaming up to help the environment and save the world. If you’re not familiar with Earth Hour, first, where have you been for the past like five years? Second, Earth Hour is a global environmental movement that has long since made a name for itself for it’s innovative way of reaching out to people.
The idea behind Earth Hour is simple.
People all around the world choose a single hour some time usually towards the end of March. They pledge to turn off all non-essential lights and electronics for those sixty minutes to raise awareness for environmental organizations and such. But it’s not just individuals that do this. It’s entire cities. Imagine entire cities going dark (okay, not completely dark) for a good cause. That’s Earth Hour. It’s an amazing moment each year where you’re guaranteed to get people thinking about the state of the world and the future of our environment.
For Earth Hour 2014, the organizers are trying something new. Earth Hour Blue is an outline resource where people can let their support be known for tons of environmental causes around the world. The hope is that people will take their activism one step further, learn about some incredible environmental issues, and speak out. It’s not just about turning out the lights when you leave a room any more but doing good. As Marc Webb said, “Earth Hour is a movement full of Super Heroes – people harnessing the power of the crowd to inspire change for the good of the planet, imagine the possibilities when we come together and do more.”
It’s a really great idea to be honest. Earth Hour is such an awesome program and even though it often just gets people thinking for one day at most the addition of Earth Hour Blue could mean a lot. People wouldn’t just be turning out the lights but signing petitions, crowdsourcing and crowdfunding causes that might otherwise pass them by, and hopefully joining causes that mean a lot to them for the long haul.
The folks over at the Amazing Spider-Man 2 have done just that. The film has the distinction of being the most eco-friendly production in Columbia Pictures’ long history. Sony Pictures joined up with the World Wildlife Foundation in China to help fund a local program to combat the deforestation that threatens the Giant Panda population. The partnership will earn them a ‘Gold Standard’ carbon offset award which means that the production AND the publicity tour (and that’s a lot of plane travel right there, folks) will be essentially “carbon neutral.” The program they fund will in effect hopefully prevent as much carbon use as they themselves used which, you know, is pretty cool.
What’s even cooler is that the Amazing Spider-Man 2’s dedication to being environmentally friendly came from every level – from the actors to the producers to the guys building sets on the lot – and it was a major consideration from the get go. Considering how well known Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone are for their attempts to get the word out on good causes around the world that should be too surprising to anyone. But a whole major production like this getting on board?
That’s awesome.
Earth Hour 2014 is slated for March 29th from 8:30 PM to 9:30 PM.
Want to learn more about how the Amazing Spider-Man 2 is supporting the program or to learn more about how you can get involved?
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