Lights Out: The Fairmont Kea Lani, Maui Goes Dark For Earth Hour

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For the sixth consecutive year, The Fairmont Kea Lani, Maui will be participating in Earth Hour, a global event organized by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). On Saturday, March 29, 2014 at 8:30 p.m., Fairmont hotels and resorts around the planet will turn off their lights for one hour, drawing attention to one of the world's single largest environmental issues: climate change.

This year, The Fairmont Kea Lani will be partnering with lululemon athletica Maui to host a special “lights out” yoga class, lit only by tiki torches on the resort’s ocean-front Polo Lawn. A Hawaiian chant will mark the beginning of the class, which will be taught by lululemon athletica yoga instructor, Trish Bianco. As one of Maui’s most renowned yoga instructors, Bianco has over 14 years’ experience and will offer a class for all-levels to strengthen, balance and detoxify. The class will be one hour long and include a 10 minute guided meditation. The free event is open to Maui residents and visitors alike. Participants are encouraged to bring their own mat and arrive to Polo Lawn by 7:30 p.m. Following the class, participants will be encouraged to meet and mingle with wine available for purchase and complimentary mini spa treatments and offers from the resort’s new Willow Stream Spa. Space is limited and can be reserved by emailing maui-showroom@lululemon.com.

In addition to the “lights out” yoga event, the resort’s Luana Lounge will serve eco-friendly cocktails utilizing Maui-grown ingredients and offer “unplugged” local entertainment. Ko, Maui’s 2013 restaurant of the year, will celebrate with Maui Brewing Company beer specials and candlelight dining for the beginning of Earth Hour. Over 200 floating candles will also be placed in the lobby fountain and outdoor paths will be lit with candle luminaries.

“As the world’s largest climate change initiative, Earth Hour provides a unique opportunity for Fairmont guests and Maui residents to participate in a worldwide event,” says General Manager of the luxury resort, Charles Head. “It is also a terrific opportunity to demonstrate our ongoing pledge to environmental awareness and energy conservation.”

Earth Hour is a WWF event that began in 2007 in Sydney, Australia, when 2.2 million individuals and more than 2,000 businesses turned their lights off for one hour to take a stand against climate change. It showed that everyone, from children to CEOs and politicians, has the power to change the world we live in. With the invitation to ‘switch off’ extended to everyone, WWF’s Earth Hour quickly became an annual global event. It’s scheduled on the last Saturday of every March – closely coinciding with the equinox to ensure most cities are in darkness as it rolls out around the Earth. Participating in WWF’s Earth Hour is a simple way to show you want to be a part of the solution, and it sends a powerful message: Together we can make a difference.

With a long-standing commitment to environmental stewardship and responsible tourism, Fairmont is a strong supporter of WWF, participating in many of their campaigns, as well as being a member of their global Climate Savers program. More than two decades after Fairmont Hotels & Resorts led the foray into environmental stewardship with the launch of its highly acclaimed and industry-leading Green Partnership program; the luxury hotel brand is again raising the bar with the introduction of its new Fairmont Sustainability Partnership. Expanding its scope and taking a more holistic approach to operational responsibility, the new program provides greater balance around the company’s economic, environmental and social priorities. As part of this program, The Fairmont Kea Lani has successfully implemented over 50 environmentally friendly programs throughout the hotel, committed to being an environmental leader on Maui.

For information on The Fairmont Kea Lani’s commitment to sustainability, please visit Fairmont.com/KeaLani and click on Environmental Initiatives. For more information on Earth Hour, visit EarthHour.org.