Earth Hour at Le Meridien Malta: Children's Pledge for Mother Earth

Online, March 7, 2011 (Newswire.com) - At 8.30pm on Saturday 26 March 2011, lights will switch off around the globe for the Earth Hour. So will all Starwood Hotels worldwide. Fully supported by its mother company, Le Meridien St Julians Hotel & Spa will adopt the initiative for the 3rd consecutive year. But with an interactive and creative twist this time.

"The project has been impressively evolving on a global scale", states Mark Muscat de Celis, Director of Sales & Marketing at Le Meridien St Julians. "And we don't want to fall behind. We want to involve our community, encourage Maltese people to take action and motivate our youth to adopt a new perspective."

With this philosophy in mind, Le Meridien St Julians is launching an interactive competition based on children's creativity and aimed at populating what promises to be a unique art exhibition. Indeed, the management is enthusiastically inviting all children between 7 and 14years old to come up with an A4 creation on the theme of "Mother EARTH". The technique (water colours, pencils, collage, etc.) is left to the preference of the child. The drawings will all be exhibited on the 26th March at the KuDeTa Bar & Lounge. On that day, hotel guests and local customers will be able to enjoy this "Mother EARTH" art exhibition and vote for their favorite piece of art.

On top of this original exhibition, Le Meridien St Julians will of course respect the electricity curfew that will put the entire hotel in the dark from 8.30pm till 9.30pm. "But switching off the lights is a simple gesture that must come across as a celebration", emphasizes Angela Saliba, Hotel Manager. "We want to go beyond a mechanical energy saving moment and we are inviting all our patrons to take a stand with us by sharing the magic of a candle-lit evening". Indeed, for an hour and decorated by the children's creations, Le Meridien's public areas will solely be lit with candles. To encourage both hotel guests and local customers to visit the premises for this special evening, the Management is also organizing a "Happy Hour" at the KuDeTa Bar & Lounge from 8.30pm and 9.30pm: for every drink purchased at the bar, clients will receive a second one for free.

For those who are still unfamiliar with the Earth Hour concept, it is important to remember that this is a spontaneous initiative which started in 2007 in Australia when 2.2 million individuals and more than 2,000 businesses turned their lights off for one hour to take a stand against climate change. On Saturday 27 March, Earth Hour 2010 became the biggest Earth Hour ever. A record 128 countries and territories joined the global display of climate action. Iconic buildings and landmarks from Asia Pacific to Europe and Africa to the Americas switched off.

This year, the Earth Hour initiative pushes the awareness further with a new "Beyond the Hour" platform: after the lights go back on the 26 March, web visitors are invited to think about what we can change in our daily lives that will benefit the planet and to share their stories. A dedicated online platform has been created: earthhour.org/beyondthehour. It captures and allows individuals, governments and organisations across the globe to share their actions. It will act as the tool to showcase and inspire commitments to protect the one thing we all have in common - the planet.