Last night, Earth Hour happened.

On March 29th, people everywhere turned off their lights–to make a statement, to help find new ways to reduce their impact on the environment, and to start a movement that ends with a solution to the common challenge we all face.

Millions of Americans–in Chicago, Atlanta, Phoenix, San Francisco and dozens of other communities large and small–joined mayors, citizens’ groups, schools and corporations from coast to coast. Around the globe, people on five continents took part, from Albania to Zimbabwe, Bosnia to Uzbekistan, Canada to Uruguay.

Chicago saw a 5% decrease in it’s power usage from the week before. Not as much as you’d ideally like to see but it’s a statement nonetheless. Sydney used 8.4% less energy, and Christchurch New Zealand saw a 13% drop.

Check out the Chicago pictures in their Flickr pool.