Taipei: Taiwan's 7-Eleven chain will partner with its Philippine counterpart in Saturday's Earth Hour campaign by having each store turn off their sign lights from 8:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., operator Uni-President Chain Store Corp. announced Tuesday. More than 4,500 7-Eleven stores in the Philippines will join in the initiative, bringing the total participating in the two economies to more than 10,000, marking the largest cross-border lights-off effort by convenience store chains in Asia, the company stated in a release. According to Focus Taiwan, the company estimates that more than 5,200 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity will be saved, equivalent to about 3,000 kilograms of carbon emissions. Taking part in Earth Hour for a fifth straight year, the company is leading the campaign in Taiwan for a third consecutive year and indicated that a record 15,000 locations will participate, including those of its brands as well as business partners, government units, and NGOs. Some 7-Eleven stores began in June 2024 to regularly shut off sign lighting early in the morning, with more than 3,000 stores currently implementing this practice, Uni-President noted. The initiative has saved more than 2.5 million kWh of power and reduced over 1.25 million kg of carbon emissions since its inception, the company reported. Meanwhile, FamilyMart stated it is independently joining the movement for the fourth year, mobilizing its associated brands to turn off their sign lighting for one hour starting at 8:30 p.m., which will save an estimated 2,893 kilograms of carbon emissions, comparable to the amount absorbed by 240 trees in a year. OK Mart also announced its participation, confirming it will switch off all sign lighting in its stores nationwide for one hour starting at 8:30 p.m. Earth Hour, also referred to as the "lights off" moment, was initiated in 2007 by the World Wide Fund for Nature and is now recognized as the world's largest annual environmental grassroots movement, according to its official website. It is observed on th e last Saturday of March each year.
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