SM Bulacan Malls in Marilao, San Jose Del Monte, and Baliwag confirmed their support and participation as Earth Hour celebrates its 12th year on March 30.

This year’s World Wide Fund (WWF) theme “Reduce, Reuse, Change the Way We Live” seeks to bring a sense of responsibility among people and work towards betterment as well as sustainability of the Earth. It also aims to rekindle people’s relationship with nature for them to see the environment’s condition.

In the Philippines, Earth Hour celebration will be heavily anchored on creating awareness on the reduction and elimination of unnecessary use of plastics, especially single-use plastics. Since the nation ranked as third top plastic polluter of oceans, the single use plastics are seen as one of the biggest threats to biodiversity. Earth Hour 2019 celebration hopes to jump-start conversations on the dangers of single-use plastics. It also aims to change mindset as well as habits of consumer and inspire actions on healthy forests, plastic-free oceans, wildlife conservation and sustainable business.

Supporting Earth Hour campaign, SM Bulacan Malls will include a number of activities for the community to take part in. Each SM Malls in Bulacan come up with creative programs and centerpieces to celebrate Earth Hour 2019.

On March 29, SM City Marilao will launch #cleanup challenge. Volunteers are encourage to participate in the cleanup of littered area and post before-and-after picture on social media. The social-media-inspired actions hope to evoke awareness on proper waste management, rehabilitation effort for environment and change on sustainable lifestyle. Likewise, SM City Marilao will feature a 10ft Tree of Life made of recycled metal bars, LED lights and plastic bottles on Earth Hour. The sustainable installation represents the important role of nature in our lives and how we should connect to our roots. It aims to bring people together for a cause as it offers guests the opportunity to enjoy not only the beauty of nature but also to connect and experience it in a unique and mesmerizing way. Moreover, it hopes to provide an imaginative focal point on recycling while urging people to take positive actions for environment protection.

Representing biodiversity, SM City San Jose del Monte will turn its view deck and lagoon area into a glowing scenic garden as part of its participation for Earth Hour 2019. This will be complemented by field of colourful LED powered roses and glowing lights from the lagoon fountain. Lighted performances from ballet dancers and drummers of San Jose Del Monte will likewise complete the simulation of forest. The installation suggest the importance of habitat restoration and conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem. In addition to the celebration, regular clean-up drives are likewise conducted.

Engaging the community, SM City Baliwag will be transformed into a fun play avenue using colorful neon patterns. The Glow Play Park is a light attraction that features outdoor games such maze; perfect for play and amusement. The goal of the attraction is to involve families and shoppers to “unplug” for an hour and participate in the Earth Hour through fun activities. It also serves as a call to action for younger generation to minimize excessive use of electronic gadgets to conserve energy. SM City Baliwag believes that concerted efforts in saving the environment are needed to bring significant and positive change to the earth.

On top of the hourly lights-off campaign every year, SM Supermalls has long focused on energy efficiency and sustainable practices such as water conservation, solid waste management and environmental programs. In fact, SM has been encouraging customers to use functional ecobags to replace or minimize the use of plastics bags since 2007. SM Bulacan Malls in Marilao, San Jose Del Monte, and Baliwag also use biodegradable shopping bags to help reduce plastic waste.