The city’s environmental advisory committee is inviting residents to take part in an international event that aims to bring awareness to the need for energy conservation.

Organizers of the local Earth Hour event are asking that residents and businesses turn off their lights between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. on March 29.

Orillia District Chamber of Commerce president Karen O’Coin has challenged her membership to participate as well.

“It’s only an hour of your life,” said O’Coin, who has planned a candlelit gathering with a few friends. “Everything is going off at my house.”

Businesses that require lighting to operate are encouraged to reduce their power output in other ways.