Republican Children and Youth Center Gutta-Club actively supported Earth Hour 2010. 25 educational institutions from Kishinev took part in Earth Hour. On reverse side of energy bills that every consumer in Moldova gets Gutta Club placed a call to participate in Earth Hour and always save natural resources. On March 26th a group of 27 schoolchildren from 16 schools of Kishinev visited I.C.S. «RED UNION FENOSA» S.A. where they got a unique opportunity to visit an old and a new controller’s offices and to see a presentation about efficient use of resources.
Earth Hour is a symbolic action organized by World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) that urges to stop climate change and to use energy resources in a careful way. Last year around 1 billion people from over 1400 largest cities around the world took part in Earth Hour.
Gutta-Club also actively supported Earth Hour 2010. And it’s no wonder! For eight years Gutta-Club has been a national coordinator for SPARE project, supported by the Norwegian Society for Nature Conservation.
This year we decided to pay special attention to schools, gymnasiums and lyceums since Earth Hour is an educative action. Thus by using educational institutions not only can we get through to children but also to their parents. We made a list of 25 educational institutions including lyceums named after Stephen the Great, n.a. O. Gibu, n.a. P. Rares, n.a. Y. Hasdeu, n.a. A. Donici, n.a. M. Cervantes, n.a. I. Nechuy-Levitsky, n.a. A. Pushkin, n.a. N. Gogol, n.a. N. Milescu-Spataru, n.a. K. Sibirskiy, n.a. A. Rousseau, n.a. Dm. Cantemir, n.a. V. Lupu, B. Hasdeu, n.a. M. Greku, lyceum «Svetoch», theatre and sport lyceums and also schools №№ 90, 34, 95, 86, 124, Children academy and offered them to take part in Earth Hour.
With the approval from the school administrations we prepared and sent out 25 packages. Each package contained some popular movies about global warming and climate change and cartoons for junior school about the efficient use of resources, a press release by Gutta-Club journalists, a letter with Earth Hour action plan, leaflets and colorful posters with the globe in the form of the symbolic number «60» with endless space in the background.
Efficient use of natural resources is our choice!
The plan consisted of the next steps.
First: The poster is set up in a school hall for all to see.
Second: Teachers and activist groups notify all schoolchildren about the action.
Third: The same groups get leaflets and distribute them in districts where they live.
Fourth: A teacher shows one or more movies burned on a CD to schoolchildren. The teacher and the schoolchildren discuss the movies. And as a home task children write essays on the topic of «What can I do myself to stop global warming» and also «How I spent Earth Hour».
Works by children are passed to Gutta-Club during April.
The best essays will be published in Moldavian printed and Internet media in the framework of Earth Hour information campaign.
But it’s not the most important thing. The main task of the essay is to give young citizens
an opportunity to feel and to think about their own importance in such a global process as climate change, to develop individual action plans and realize them in their everyday life.
Teachers joined the work with enthusiasm. As well as last year, this year Gutta-Club held the Earth Hour action together with the main national energy company I.C.S. «RED UNION FENOSA» S.A. We prepared a joint communiqué (http://ufmoldova.com/news/?nid=a82af0c037ef0abf69caacb74b7192d9) and came out with public statements in media. The posters and a part of leaflets for distribution in schools and lyceums were also published with help from the company. On reverse side of the energy bills that every consumer in Moldova gets a call was placed to participate in Earth Hour and always save natural resources. On March 26th a group of 27 schoolboys and schoolgirls from 16 schools of Kishinev visited I.C.S. «RED UNION FENOSA» S.A. where they got a unique opportunity to visit an old and a new controller’s offices, to see a presentation about efficient use of resources and to enjoy the souvenirs in the end.
Since many Gutta-Club members study at different universities of the capital some information posters were set up there. Our activists zealously held into information work among students concerning the participation in Earth Hour.
On March 26th at 11.45 AM Miroslav Yurchak, a State university student and our organization activist, spoke on the National radio and called on to all progressive citizens to participate in the action.
On March 27th a bicycle race took place in Kishinev. It was organized by members of Salva Eco and Gutta-Club. Young people on the bicycles decorated with flags and banners went round the most crowded places of the city distributing leaflets and talking to people.
In the evening we got together in the city center. At 20.30 sharp the lights went off at the Palace of Youth situated behind us and at the café bar «Admiral» situated a little bit to the left. Candles were lit, songs were played, everybody’s favorite hominy was being cooked on fire and representatives of Vitoone company distributed energy saving light bulbs to numerous participants of Earth Hour. It was wonderful! Would be great to keep the warmth and comfort of this night until the next Earth Hour and for every year to come.
The next day I got a letter that resonated with my feelings, from Yulia Mikhailova, an
Here is the letter.
«Ecological footprint of humankind gets more and more obvious every year. Current trends persist soon it will require one more planet to satisfy human needs in energy, water and food. We really care about the future of our home planet and that’s why we joined millions inhabitants of the Earth who turned off the lights for an hour.
Earth Hour is not just a symbolic action. Earth Hour is a public call for drastic measures to save the climate. We did a lot at the lyceum and at home to inform people about Earth Hour. We distributed leaflets, informed every school form about the action, talked to friends and neighbours.
And in the evening of March 27th invited by Gutta-Club, we went to the city center in good mood to meet friends and like-minded people in order to spend Earth Hour together with lit candles and guitar music.
All of us tried to change our habits at least for an hour and make a choice for the efficient use of heat and energy.
There were a lot of us: schoolchildren from different city lyceums, students and just passerbies who stayed with us until the end of the action.
Our hearts were filled warmth and joy. And we kept these feelings smiling to each other and exchanging good thoughts. We walked all the way home to Buiucani with a lit candle symbolizing our involvement to the cause of our Planet.
This evening will remain in our hearts for a long time as we already made the first step and turned off the light on March 27th, 2010 at 20.30. Careful use of nature resources is our choice! We ourselves remember and want to remind others that we only have one Earth!»
Natalia Kravchuk (Cravciuc),
Gutta-Club President
