Earth Hour 2019: Cebu Cenro urges the public to choose bikes over cars

About 5,000 bicycle enthusiasts gathered for the start of the Earth Hour Night Ride at the Cebu IT Park during the 2015 edition of the Earth Hour. CDN file photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Don’t just turn off the lights. Go further and ride a bike instead of a car.

This was the suggestion of Cebu City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) Head Nida Cabrera for this year’s edition of the Earth Hour on Saturday, March 30, 2019.

Cenro will be leading the Earth Hour celebration in Cebu City with a program at the Plaza Independencia in a movement to decrease the carbon emissions of the city through sustainable energy.

Cabrera said that at exactly 8:30 p.m., everyone is encouraged to turn off the lights for an hour to raise awareness for energy consumption and its effects on the environment.

“Bisag usa ka oras lang, we are not dependent on energy consumption. We need to change the response of the people when it comes to energy,” said Cabrera.

Aside from just turning off the lights for an hour, Cabrera challenged the public to find more ways to save the Earth and lessen carbon footprint.

One of her suggestions is to ride bikes instead of cars as Cenro is now looking into installing more bike racks around the city to encourage the public to change their lifestyle.

“Mag-install tag mga bike racks sa laing-laing dapit aron more bikers can have safe areas to park their bikes,” she said.

(We will install bike racks in different places so that more bikers can have safe areas to park their bikes.)

She also said that they are now coordinating with other agencies on the plans to create bike lanes in the city roads and highways for the safety of the bikers along the roads.

“Usa man gyod na sa atong problema ang safety and security sa atong bikers sa kadalanan. So ato silang hatagan og ilang lanes para malessen ang chance nga maaksidente sila,” said Cabrera.

(One of the problems with biking is the safety and security of the bikers on the road. So we will give them their own lanes to lessen the chances of them getting meeting an accident.)

Various bikers associations will also be making rounds in the city on Saturday to encourage people to change their lifestyles from being car dependent to “self-sufficient.”

Cabrera hopes that people would not only think about the environment on Earth Hour but would choose to a lifestyle that is sustainable and earth-friendly all the time.

Earth Hour is a worldwide movement started by the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WFN) in March 2007 to gain awareness on the reality of climate change and its adverse effects.

In the website, earthhour.org explained that Earth Hour is an initiative to encourage individuals, businesses and governments around the world to take accountability for their ecological footprint and engage in dialogue and resource exchange that provides real solutions to our environmental challenges.

“Participation in Earth Hour symbolizes a commitment to change beyond the hour,” said the WFN. /bmjo