Stakeholder Support Key To Earth Hour Success
Greenrock announced that WEDCO, the City of Hamilton, the Corporation of St. George, BELCO, The Department of Public Transportation, the Cabinet Office, and numerous Government departments will all be participating in Earth Hour this year.
Chairman of the Board, Eugene Dean said, “Having support from major stakeholders is key to the success of our campaign. While individual participation is extremely important to our movement, participation from governments and large corporations is just as essential. Their participation helps to ensure that laws, policy frameworks and infrastructure developments are all in alignment with the goals we seek to achieve. Sustainable development is the foundation to sustainable living, which means that they both need to grow hand in hand. Everyone has a role to play in creating a sustainable future for Bermuda and, for that reason, we are pleased to have so many of the island’s core organizations involved.”
“The Premier, David Burt confirmed that the Cabinet Office will be participating in Earth Hour and followed through with his commitment to encourage all Government departments to participate as well. The Department of Public Transportation confirmed that it will be dimming lights at the Hamilton bus terminal this year and representatives from the Corporation of St. George confirmed that they will continue with their tradition of turning off lights on Water Street, Ordinance Island, and in and around the Town Hall Building in King’s Square.
“The Mayor of Hamilton, Charles Gosling, shared how the City will be participating, what they are doing to operate more sustainably and why it is important for everyone to get involved: “The City of Hamilton is pleased to once again support Greenrock in recognizing Earth Hour in order to further awareness about the urgent need for energy conservation globally. As such, we will shut off all lights in and outside of the City Hall building on Saturday, March 27th between 8:30pm and 9:30pm as well as the Works Depot which will have all lights turned off for the hour.
“Over the past few years, the City has made a more concerted effort to be greener. We’ve changed the bulbs in City offices and properties as well as the streetlights to LED, transitioned to an electric fleet for City vehicles, and moved to a paperless system for our Board agendas and meetings. Additionally, in February of this year, the City oversaw the installation of 78 solar panels at its Front Street pump station which, it is anticipated, will save the City more than $30,000 a year on electricity costs.
“The City already has a significant solar panel installation at its Works Depot and has plans for further installations on some of its other buildings including Pier 6 and Customs House. Additionally, the City has plans to install solar carports on the fourth floor of Bull’s Head car park and the City Hall car park which will offset electricity costs at the Works Depot as well as City Hall. City technicians are also working hard from an efficiency perspective – carrying out interior renovations such as converting the City’s lighting network to LED and finding innovative ways to reduce HVAC costs.
“We encourage all City taxpayers, be it restaurants, retailers, businesses or residents to all do their part to reduce their consumption during Earth Hour, by switching off non-essential lighting. We are all responsible for the state of our planet and it is up to each and every one of us to do our part to make a difference.”
“In a recent interview with Greenrock, General Manager of WEDCO, Andrew Dias shares the numerous ways WEDCO has embarked upon developing properties in the West End sustainably.
“BELCO, recently impacted by the high profile acquisition of its parent company Ascendant Group Ltd., now owned by Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp., is on the cusp of embarking upon a new journey that will see the company culture evolve. While most appreciate the fact that renewable energy will play some part in their energy mix, few may realize the extent to which sustainability has the potential to redefine the future of their operations. With that said, we feel positive about what we know of their newly-found direction, and are very pleased to have BELCO as Earth Steward Sponsors again this year. We are appreciative of the assistance the company has provided us annually with this initiative and look forward to working with its team to find the most effective ways to provide the people of Bermuda with clean, affordable and renewable energy.”
