Will You Observe Earth Hour Today?
MAR 28, 2009 AT 07:43 AM
Between 8:30 and 9:30 tonight, don't use any of your lights if you want to take part in Earth Hour.
The event will start in Fiji and then roll around the globe by time
zone throughout the day. Cities slated to participate include Cape
Town, Chicago, Copenhagen, Dubai, Hong Kong, Istanbul, Las Vegas,
Lisbon, London, Los Angeles, Manila, Mexico City, Moscow, Nashville,
Oslo, Rome, San Francisco, Singapore, Sydney, Toronto and Warsaw.
They are looking for 1 billion people to participate.
Read more about: Website
I won't. This whole global warming thing caused by humans is a complete nonse. EVERY planet in our galaxy is getting warmer. The Sun, Mercury, Venus, Mars and ALL the other planets. There are more storms in the Sun now that there has ever been, so we are going through some massive changes in our galaxy right now and none of them are human-caused. This is just one of those old hat-tricks used by the goverment to make us pay more taxes for something that we have NOT even caused.
3425 points
I'll be at the movies, so technically the lights won't be on in my house, lol, does that count? As for Anonymous @8:15 am - are you kidding me? Does the Earth's climate oscillate in natural cycles - yes, science has proven that. However, while we are in a natural cycle of warming, the Earth is warming at an extremely rapid rate, way faster than it ever has in the past. To say that we haven't caused this and it's a ploy by the government (especially when the US government refused to acknowledge that it was even going on for a long period of time), is ridiculous.
http://littlemissjay.wordpress.com/
525 points
yes i will...its been all over the media here in barbados so everyone is ready...although we had an island wide power outtage last night so clearly the electric company was more ready than most
36130 points
Yes, I will "observe" everyone else do it. =^_^=
Ahaaaaa haaaaaaaa good one!
1940 points
I probably won't because I'll forget and because I will most likely be doing some house work. And, I'm not really convinced that turning my lights off will do anything other than lower my electric bill-maybe. I guess I'm not sold because Idon't see how we, humans, can stop a nature, a force that is beyond our control. It's kind of like saying we're going to stop a tornado-how do you do that?
And how are we supposed to see? Lamps obviously wouldn't work, candles are dangerous, I'm all up for giving it a go but just wondering...
What do you do?
330 points
It works somewhat, last year Toronto saved enough energy to power a small city for an hour, that's something at least. You can do so much more by planting trees, cleaning litter and buying local when you can. Oh and bike or walk instead of taking the car if it's close enough.
8980 points
I freak out when the power goes out for a minute during the day, I cannot imagine an hour of no power. Although it may be completely freeing, I just cannot see my self sitting in the dark at 8:30 pm. I think I will observe when I go to bed. =)
300 points
It would have been smarter if they would have set this during the day. How many people who aren't all into eco-causes are going to turn off their lights in the evening? It will be dark and that could be their excuse.
Instead they should have done it at 5pm or earlier when it's brighter and combined with a "go outside and play (or plant a garden, grow a tree, something) while still helping the earth" message. People would be exercising or just outside, leaving their lights off inside and wont have the darkness excuse.
Why did they pick that time anyway?
3425 points
Well since the point of Earth hour is to save energy, turning your lights off mid-day or early evening, when you wouldn't have had them on anyways, kind of defeats the purpose don't you think? It's seriously not that difficult to spend an hour with no lights. Here are a few things you can do by candlelight (I'm not sure why they are considered so dangerous, unless you have little kids running around) or using a flashlight:
1) Read a book, or if that's too much of a challenge, a magazine or comic
2) Play a family game
3) Set up a mock campfire in your living room and tell ghost stories
4) Watch a movie on a battery-powered lap top computer or portable DVD player.
If all that fails. Turn off the lights in your own home and go out for a late dinner, a movie, bowling etc. That way, your power is off, and the power that you are using is being shared by others.
Happy Earth Hour
http://littlemissjay.wordpress.com/
Just curious...Read by candlelight? Are these industrial strength candles? Also what kind of family game do you play in the dark? I do like the campfire idea though. That might be fun.
21752 points
I've got my candles ready and a flashlight to read by if I get bored. And I might go outside to see if the whole block went dark.
I did! Although, on thursday I had a good practice. No power from 6pm to 1pm the next day! Thanks very much, caltex! grrr
Last year some friends got together for a candlelight dinner for the occasion.
It was a potluck, so all the homes had ovens going as usual. Laundry was done and hot showers were had by all so that they could present themselves nicely. They drove to the appointed house, some as far as 25 miles, and felt very important and good about their contribution.
I sat home reading a book under my single 40 watt bulb and used less energy. The hour is symbolic only---education about how to lessen your footprint on a day to day basis is readily available on the web.
20 points
We here in little old New Zealand even took part... great initiative.
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