Earth Hour: Get Out and Party Like it's 1799!
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 03.29.08
The Scene in Christchurch during Earth Hour
What negativity all over the web. "I am hard pressed to believe that this one hour of symbolism will appreciably change anyone’s ongoing habits of energy consumption. " or "I dont like the way this event has been appropriated by those very organisations who are most responsible for causing all the trouble." or writing posts entitled "Why I’m Not Participating In Earth Hour."
Loosen up. Go out and look at the stars. Snuggle with your sweetie. Think, for an hour, about how you might entertain yourselves in a world without electricity; it may be here before you know it.
Couldn't have said it better myself. 5:25pm in Toronto, and I'm shutting down early. Plan to go for a walk around North Etobicoke (not the greatest place, but that's okay). I then plan to stand on the hilltop beside my college and see the skyline dim. I was going to venture downtown, but I would rather just relax for the evening.
Just enjoy Earth Hour people. Stop making it into something it's not.
For anyone that complains? The world can go one without Facebook and a reading lamp. The world is just outside that window, all you need to do is look. No log in, not batteries. Enjoy it.
Not to be against Earth Hour raising good awareness, but aren't people's sleeping hours enough to not waste electricity constantly?
When you sleep, you probably don't leave lights on, things running, etc.
So isn't that good enough?
Hard to conscientiously think about climate or anything else while asleep, which is the point. And to all of the naysayers, take a look at the participation levels from last year to this. One hour once a year is to help remind us during our busy lives. At this level it doesn't save the world, but what if everyone discovers they can do an hour or a night without lights more often? Once a month, once a week? Everywhere? Yes, I believe THAT would make a difference. So gather up some friends, make some finger foods and turn out the lights for an hour, or two or three!
I live far from a city, but I can see the difference even here, it is darker outside, and more peaceful. Our lights are off.
If it causes a temporary drop in electricity usage big enough to notice, I think the politicians will notice and act accordingly, and that is a good thing. People do care, we want to keep living on this planet.
Celebrated it here on my block in Washington, DC. I won the competition by having my electric meter not spin at all--everyone else had some vampire electrics left plugged in or something.
Cheers!
Alan
Just finished our Earth Hour party at my apartment here in DC! We played games, talked, listened to guitar/sang and generally enjoyed company until after midnight. A wonderful excuse to get 14 of my favorite people together.
The politicians will never care. Money is all that matter to them. The problem, as always, is we search for small shocking ways to change the world. Like a sharp pebble under a semi. What needs to happen is subtle, yet powerful and sensible change. The human animal is basically lazy. Make green easy, make it available, and the masses will follow.