In view of the ongoing health crisis as a result of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak, the Earth Hour global organising team, led by World Wildlife Fund (WWF), is recommending all individuals to celebrate Earth Hour digitally this year. 

The team suggests many ways to take part online or at home and show support for the planet on and around the Hour. These include:

Switch off for an hour at home

The DNA of the Earth Hour movement

Switch off your lights at home for an hour on Saturday, March 28, 2020 at 8:30 pm your local time.

1. Switch off your lights

This is the easiest way to participate this Earth Hour. Simply switch off all non-essential lights for an hour!

2. Dinner-in-the-dark

Get some candles ready and whip up healthy and delicious meals that will make your taste buds tingle! Don't know where to start? Check out this list of 50 foods for a healthier planet and a healthier you!

Up for a challenge? Try a zero-waste cookout or put on a blindfold and try and guess what's been cooked up!

3. Have a night of board games or book readings in candle-light

Try these with your family or friends at home.

4. Themed movie night

Get the popcorn ready and enjoy your most treasured movies or take on those movie marathons that you've been always wanting to do. 

Still can't get enough of nature documentaries? The Environmental Film Festival is showing a large selection of their films for free on their website for a limited time!

5. Camp in your backyard or living room

If you love the adventure of camping outdoors, we challenge you to turn your back garden or living room into your very own camping space! Don’t have an actual tent? Why not make one with bedsheets, pillows, and other household items! 

6. Class is in session! Hear from David Attenborough and Greta Thunberg

Learn from Sir David Attenborough as he explains humanity’s biggest challenge yet, and how we can overcome it.  Watch now

Next, Greta Thunberg introduces one of our biggest allies against climate change. Watch now

7. Heads up! 

Challenge each other in a game of Heads Up! You can create your own deck of nature or wildlife-related word cards. Have a guesser hold up the cards on their forehead while the rest act out the word.

8. Practice some night-photography or try out "light-painting"

Want to test your photography skills? Try taking portraits of your family and friends in low-light or candle-light! You can also try out “light-painting” with your camera - a tripod and a slow shutter speed work best! Check out this useful guide for more information on how to do this!

9. Up your sustainability knowledge and know-how 

Learn what you can do in your daily life to start living more sustainably - even the smallest actions add up! Read how here

10. Create your own mini-golf course using household objects

A little friendly competition can’t hurt - up the stakes by making the loser do the dishes or any household chore

11. Challenge your artistic side with a candle-lit paint night

Feeling funky? You can also try using glow-in-the dark neon paint!

12. Write a letter to your future eco-warrior self

Do you wish to limit your water wastage or purchase eco-friendly goods more often? Why not put all of your sustainability goals into a letter for your future self! It’s a fun way to hold yourself accountable while at the same time do your part in helping our planet!

13. Eco-friendly fashion show

Turn your living room into a runway and bond with your family as you take on a fun and silly night of dressing up! Unleash your creative side by making your own costume from recyclable materials!

14. Dance the night away or hold a silent disco

Grab a pair of headphones and groove to your own favorite music! Take it up a notch by battling it out with your family and friends in a silent disco and claim dance floor supremacy.

Need some inspiration for your dance moves? Check out Earth Hour Tik Tok channel (@EarthHourOfficial) or Earth Hour channel on Spotify with official trailer music from over the years, as well as a curated playlist of nature-inspired songs!

15. Acoustic jam session

Unleash the Ed Sheeran or Beyonce in you and sing the night away with your friends and family! For all you shower singers out there - this is your chance to shine!

16. Try Yoga at Home

Check out virtual yoga classes that start with basic beginner’s yoga poses and expand your skills as you go on. Further connect to nature and create a zen-like experience by meditating to some nature sounds on Spotify channel, or trying some animal-inspired yoga poses!

Ideas for young ones:

1. Shadow puppet play

Want to entertain your young ones? Switch off all the lights and put on a shadow puppet play! Cut out different shapes of animals, set up a stage using cloth and light and let the shadows come to life! Further set the mood by transforming your pillows and blankets into a mighty fortress!

2. Indoor scavenger hunt 

Treat your young ones to a thrilling scavenger hunt! Turn off the lights, and hide items around the house (candy and chocolate are great incentives). Challenge your young ones to find all the hidden items within a certain time limit, using only a flashlight! 

3. Take on adventures with Pocoyo 

Every year, Pocoyo and friends turn off their lights during Earth Hour! Learn with your little ones how to take care of the planet by watching Pocoyo’s adventures, playing the Earth Hour game and completing the activity book. There are plenty of activities to be done with Pocoyo here!

4. Create your own tie-dye clothes

If your young one is tired of boring white socks or has too many old t-shirts, get together to tie-dye them! All you need is a white piece of clothing, a bucket or a basin, water, rubber bands, some gloves, and different colored dyes. Pro tip: your tie-dye pattern depends on how you fold and secure the fabric with your rubber band! Check out this useful guide for more information!

5. Goggles on - try a science experiment at home

Share the wonders of science with your little ones this Earth Hour! And the best part? You don’t need a ton of supplies - you can just use regular household items! Check out this page for some ideas.

Tune in online to on-the-night live streams

Browse some online events around the world on the night of Earth Hour!

The list is long for what you can do during the Earth Hour. So, if you're in Qatar or anywhere around the world, stand in solidarity and support the Earth Hour global organizing team and WFF in switing off, and on for the world!

"In the midst of the COVID 19 health crisis, we need to stand together now more than ever to safeguard our future and the future of our planet. Earth Hour 2020 is more than a symbolic event, it is a global environmental movement to stop the destruction of nature on which our health, happiness and future prosperity depends. Nature is the planet’s life support system and gives us everything we need; from the air we breathe, the water we drink, to the food we eat. The link between nature and good health has been well documented. Even spending two hours a week in nature is known to lead to better health. Nature underpins our life, health and well-being but it is in a crisis! Now is not the time to pause our collective work, but a time to respond more creatively, work more collaboratively, and listen and adapt more effectively." 

–Earth Hour Global Organizing Team