The city of Snoqualmie will join cities and organizations across the world in supporting Earth Hour on March 30 from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

Organized by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the event began in Sydney, Australia in 2007, and asks participants to turn their lights off for an hour. The WWF calls the event the world’s largest action for climate change awareness and Snoqualmie will join by turning all the lights off at city hall.

“This is the 11th year the city of Snoqualmie has participated in Earth Hour to build awareness for global sustainability,” city officials said in a press release. “Although Snoqualmie participates in this special event each year, all lights in City Hall automatically turn off 365 nights a year to save energy from 10 p.m. until 6 a.m. the next morning. Outside lights remain on for safety.”

The Earth Hour movement has grown to unite hundreds of millions of people within the 12 years it has existed. The 2019 worldwide participant list of cities, businesses, landmarks, buildings and universities can be found on the WWF’s website (www.worldwildlife.org) and includes Snoqualmie and the Space Needle.

“Nature not only provides us with all the things we need to live — from the air we breathe to the water we drink, and from the shelter we need to the economy we rely on — but also makes our lives better,” WWF officials wrote in a press release. “However, its growing loss puts this all under threat.”

Locals can get involved and join Earth Hour by: turning off the lights in their home or business; signing up to officially show support; hosting an Earth Hour event to teach children about protecting the planet; telling their story of what nature means to them; reading other #CONNECT2EARTH stories to learn what people around the world think about the environment and what they’re doing to contribute to our planet’s health; watching a video in several languages about the event; and learning about biodiversity on the WWF website.

City officials also highlighted Snoqualmie’s past and current commitments to protecting and preserving the environment, including the Snoqualmie Preservation Initiative, the Meadowbrook Farm preservation, the Snoqualmie Tree Farm, the Mountains to Sound Greenway, the Urban Forestry Program, water resource management and support of solar power.