Lights out.
That's what the World Wildlife Fund is hoping for as part of Earth Hour 2008, an international event urging people to turn off their lights from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday.
Dan Forman, the organization's spokesman, said Earth Hour was done in Australia for the first time in 2007, and at least 40 U.S. cities have registered this year, including Atlanta, Chicago and San Francisco. People across the globe are invited.
Neither the City of Gainesville nor Gainesville Regional Utilities is officially participating in the event. However, most of Gainesville's city buildings will be dark on Saturday at 8 p.m. anyway - they close on weekends, said Bob Woods, a city spokesman.
"If Earth Hour were to occur during a weekday, I'm sure we would be involved with this," Woods said.
Members of UF student group Gators for a Sustainable Campus are encouraged individuals to participate in the blackout Thursday, handing out compact fluorescent light bulbs.
Santiago Naranjo, a member of the group, said he hopes the event motivates Gainesville, even though the group hasn't seen overwhelming support for environmental activism in the past.
"Not enough people care," Naranjo said.
Jessica Hasbun, a telecommunications junior, said she doesn't think the event will be effective.
"An hour is really not going to make that much of a difference," Hasbun said.
Despite the skepticism, Forman of WWF contends that that's not the point. He said he realizes the effort would only make a small dent in conservation, but it's more of a symbolic move.
It's meant to raise awareness of a "green" lifestyle - one that includes recycling, carpooling and conserving energy.
"We don't want people to just turn off their lights for an hour and think they're done," Forman said.
