RENO — On Saturday, the historic Reno Arch along with Reno City Hall and other city buildings will go dark for one hour in recognition of Earth Hour. The symbolic event is from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. Along with the darkening of the Reno Arch, downtown businesses also have been asked to join in this effort by turning off exterior or non-essential lights.

Sponsored by World Wildlife Fund, in 2009 nearly 1 billion people from 4,100 cities in 87 countries turned off their lights, as well as international landmarks including the Golden Gate Bridge, Empire State Building, Eiffel Tower, Great Pyramids and the city skylines of Las Vegas, Hong Kong and Tel Aviv. The goal of Earth Hour is to raise awareness about climate change issues, to encourage businesses, individuals and government to take actions to reduce their carbon emissions and their impact on the environment in their daily lives and operations.

The city of Reno encourages all residents to join in this symbolic statement by turning off all non-essential lighting in government buildings, schools, landmarks, businesses and households between 8:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. on Saturday.