Caesars Entertainment, Coca-Cola, Hilton Hotels and Walgreens all plan to turn off lights during Earth Hour tomorrow, in an effort to cut consumption and highlight their environmental commitment.

Caesars Entertainment will be participating for the third straight year by shutting off all non-essential exterior lighting and marquees at more than 40 resorts and casinos. Walgreens will turn off select interior lights and lighted exterior signage at 1,415 stores across the country – at least one in every state and in Puerto Rico, the company said.

Coca-Cola will switch off its electronic billboards in Times Square and London’s Piccadilly Circus.

Meanwhile, AT&T will power down its AT&T Plaza Dallas, shutting off logo signs, fountain lights and interior office lights in the four main buildings.

The Earth Hour campaign encourages, cities, companies and individuals to turn out their lights for one hour as a visible statement of commitment to the planet. WWF-Australia started the project with Fairfax Media and advertising agency Leo Burnett in 2007.

In 2010, 4616 cities, towns and municipalities took part in across 128 countries, including 89 national capitals and 9 of the world’s ten most populated cities. They included New York, Beijing, Los Angeles, Nairobi, Hong Kong, London, Moscow, Sydney, Rio de Janeiro and Dubai.

Over 1500 landmarks also went dark, including the Sphinx and pyramids of Giza, the Eiffel Tower, Big Ben, the Acropolis, the Coliseum, the Empire State Building and the Las Vegas Strip.

Earth Hour will run from 8:30 pm to 9:30 local time tomorrow, March 26, and WWF-Australia expects over 4000 cities in 128 countries to take part. The organization is encouraging participants to “go beyond the hour” by committing to acts that benefits the environment on an ongoing basis

Grubb & Ellis, one of the world’s largest real estate services and investment company with 5,200 professionals in more than 100 company-owned and affiliate offices, is turning off non-essential lights and electrical equipment at all offices occupied by the firm.  It is also encouraging tenants of the 302 million square feet of space managed by the company on behalf of clients to participate.

Hilton Worldwide will mark the occasion at thousands of hotels across ten brands by switching off main building exterior lighting, rooftop neon signage, shutting down business center equipment, dimming interior lights in lobbies and reception areas, encouraging guests to switch off room lights, and staging candle-lit dinners and events to raise awareness.

The DoubleTree by Hilton Chicago-Magnificent Mile will offer guests an eco-friendly dinner menu that uses no power to produce.

Hotels have been among the most active sectors in publicizing their participation. Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club Report Nanyuki will hold a moonlight walk for guests, while Fairmont’s Bab Al Bahr Hotel Abu Dhabi will use stationery bicycles, fully manned for 24 hours by hotel guests, staff and community members, to produce a full day of renewable energy.

Starwood Hotels, Delta Hotels, Mantra Group and Pan Pacific Hotel Group also say they’ll participate.

Other companies that will turn out the lights include Nokia, IKEA, KPMG, PwC, Canon, Volvo, Naver, FIFA, the International Olympic Committee, Bloomberg, Starcom, Pocoyo, Clearchannel, Credit Suisse AG, Finnair, Hostel World and CB Richard Ellis.

A full list of participating organizations is available here.

Stay Up-to-Date On Environmental Management, Energy & Sustainability News with EL’s Free Daily Newsletter

(Source: www.environmentalleader.com )