Australians already going beyond the hour

As millions of people across the country switched off the lights to mark Earth Hour 2011, Australia’s most inspiring stories of people going beyond the hour were recognised at the inaugural WWF Earth Hour Awards. The Award winners were announced at a celebration in Sydney's Museum of Contemporary Art beside Sydney harbour - the birthplace of Earth Hour. WWF-Australia CEO Dermot O'Gorman said he was proud to see people taking up the challenge of protecting our environment.

"From a pool of over 100 entries, these stories stood out as exceptional. WWF is now asking everyone to follow these great examples make a personal commitment to go beyond the hour."

"We cannot simply rely on one hour of darkness - we need to change our habits to create a lifetime of sustainability."

The WWF Earth Hour Award winners were:

• The Young Panda Award - Hanan Hassan & Julia Lin, PLC Junior School (Pymble, NSW)
• The Workplace Champion Award - Benjamin Grimshaw, Hilton Hotel (Sydney, NSW)
• The Futuremakers Award - Lloyd Linson-Smith, Inventor (Oakey, QLD)
• The Lifetime Achievement Award - Burr Dodd & Lolo Houbein, Trees For Life (Brooklyn Park, SA)
• The Education Award - Cate Lawrence, Green Renters (Brunswick, VIC)
• The People’s Choice Award – Catherine Lee, The Point Preschool (Oyster Bay, NSW)

The winner of The People's Choice Award, Catherine Lee, said the children at her preschool were proud to be taking care of their local environment.

"The children of The Point Preschool are leading by example, treading lightly on the earth and making a difference everyday with their sustainable practices. They are thoughtful with their water use, turn the computer and lights off everyday and take the Earth Hour message home to their families."

Burr Dodd and Lolo Houbein, winners of The Lifetime Achievement Award, and founders of Trees For Life, were recognised for their extraordinary efforts. Since Burr and Lolo founded Trees For Life in 1981, volunteers with the organisation have planted over 30 million seedlings. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon led a host of world leaders supporting Earth Hour 2011, saying "all over the world individuals, communities, businesses and governments are creating new examples for our common future – new visions for sustainable living and new technologies to realize it."

World leaders including Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, British Prime Minister David Cameron, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu also lent their support to the campaign. Now in its fifth year, Earth Hour has continued to grow, spreading a message of inspiration to hundreds of millions of people in 133 countries.

Overnight, the Australian initiative spread around the world, reaching communities across Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Europe. The last country to switch the lights back on will be the small Pacific country of the Cook Islands. Countries celebrating their first Earth Hour included Iran, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Swaziland, Lesotho, Chad, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago.

"More people than ever before in cites and towns all over the world have switched off their lights for Earth Hour 2011," said Mr O’Gorman. "Australians should be fiercely proud of what we have created. Now we need to take this momentum beyond the hour." "We want everyone to visit earthhour.org.au to share your ideas and actions for creating a more sustainable world."

For more information please contact:
Jonathon Larkin, Senior Media Officer, WWF-Australia, 0410 221 410, jlarkin@wwf.org.au or Sylvia Geaitani, Account Manager, Access PR, 0414 755 162, sylvia@accesspr.com.au