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At exactly 8:30PM last night, various establishments and households in 50 cities nationwide shut off power to support Earth Hour 2009. If the whole nation managed to save 80 megawatts in last year’s shutdown event, the increase in number of pledges this year helped surpass that figure.

Earth Hour was backed by big corporations such as Ayala Corporation, Starbucks, Bank of the Philippine Islands, and Shangri-la Hotels, among others. Canon Marketing Philippines went as far as shutting off its billboards along South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) and Cebu, aside from shutting down electricity in all Canon offices, branches, and service centers nationwide. If you're going out on Saturday night, you can even check out performances of live percussionists and fire dancers at the 4th level of Trinoma Park. Meanwhile, the quaint EchoStore once featured in ShopCrazy even hosted a party in the dark!

Did you participate in this activity? It might have hurt to give up air conditioning, TV, and surfing the Internet for one whole hour, but don't you agree that every small effort truly counts?