In the study of journalist Subhas Chandra Pattanayak the first preparatory meeting for Earth Hour 2010 at Bhubaneswar was held on February 27. 
It was unanimously decided to observe the event on March 27 from 8.30 to 9.30 PM by involving more persons than last year.
Earth Hour is a global event organized by World Wide Fund for Nature and is generally held in the last Saturday of March asking households and industry to turn-off their lights and non-essential electric appliances for one hour to raise awareness on necessity of peoples’ unity for reduction of carbon footprint of power generation.
Conceived by WWFN of Australia and The Sunday Morning Herald and responded to initially by 2.2 million residents of Sydney on 31 march 2007, the innovative action has captured the imagination of peoples, leading one billion persons in 4088 cities of 88 countries across the world observing Earth Hour last year. More and more rural populace gladly joining the campaign, Earth Hour has come to be known as the hour when the world unites in a stand against global warming.
Placing the keynote address, Er. Nagendranath Mahapatra, Honorary Advisor, Eastern region Indian Institute of Sustainable Development revealed that five million people in 56 Indian cities participated in Earth Hour 2009 and this single step helped the country save 1000 MW energy when in Orissa it was a saving of 100 MW energy in the reign of evening peak demand.
To make the event a success, Mahapatra’s appeal was approved to adopt at least ten steps to reduce carbon footprint. They are:
1. Turning-off lights from 8.30 to 9.30 in the evening;
2. showing support and adding to the list of global citizens caring the Mother earth;
3. talking about Earth Hour in social network forums;
4. celebration of get-together with friends and family by hosting an Earth Hour party;
5. rallying local council and community groups to organize Earth Hour events;
6. making of Earth Hour Lanterns as a symbol of hope for the future;
7. Enjoying a family dinner by candlelight;
8. sitting in dark and sharing stories;
9. holding a night picnic with family members and friends in a local park or inspiring them to enjoy each other’s company in gazing at the stars; and
10. Finding new creative ways to mark Earth Hour 2010.