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Did you realize that Earth Hour is this coming Saturday night?
Well it is.
On Saturday March 27th you can turn your lights off from 8:30-9:30pm (local time) to join in with hundreds of millions of people around the world and call for action against climate change.
Why do we love Earth Hour so much?
Because it involves a lot of people doing a simple thing, and we love simple steps.
But does Earth Hour make a real difference?
Focus Organic reported earlier this month that Earth Hour 2010 has already surpassed its highest participation numbers of years past.
Why would you want to pledge your support too?
- Climate change is a real life problem, and it sucks
- You get to say a lot without doing much
- If you don’t, steel chair wielding pandas will come and get you. Seriously.
Even with hundreds of millions of people world wide participating, can turning off your lights for an hour really make that big of a difference?
According to an article and nifty graph at TreeHugger, Earth Hour can make a HUGE difference. They say,
"In the City of Toronto, power consumption dipped 15.1% (a lot of people were into it here). In the Philippines, power saved was equivalent of shutting down six coal fired plants for an hour. Even Dubai cut back by 200,000 kWh."
What are some ways to have fun in the dark?
- Check out the awesome Earth Hour ideas we shared around this time last year
- New for Earth Hour in 2010, you can participate in a global lights off event on Twitter
- You can host a candle light game night with some friends
- Go for a moon light stroll around your hopefully dark neighborhood
- and oh so much more…
TreeHugger has the be-all, end-all list of fun things to do during Earth Hour. Check out their 101 Earth Hour ideas list.
Last year we got out here in Nashville, TN and interviewed some people on historic lower Broadway while all of the lights were on and also in the pitch darkness after the city went dark. We even got a few words from Nashville mayor Karl Dean.
What are your plans for Earth Hour this year?
I think every little step toward living green is an awesome one… but eco-snobbery sucks! My goal is to help newbies learn the most important steps toward living green — individually and collectively. Personally, I strive to have as little impact as possible on Planet Earth while I'm here.
the best thing is that even if that one hour doesn’t do much in the grand scheme of energy savings it raises awareness so that hopefully people remember to flip the lights off when they leave a room, turn down the heat/ac when they head to work or vacation, or shave a few minutes and degrees off their showers in the morning…and that’s where the big savings come in!
Unfortunately Earth Hour has now become little more than a tool for greenwashing:
http://www.selfdestructivebastards.com/2010/03/earth-hour.html
Thanks for sharing that link chris. I read through it and wanted to chime in. The point of Earth Hour isn’t to save vast amounts of energy in a single hour. Sure, as the chart on TreeHugger that I referenced in the post points out, there is a small reduction…but that’s not the point.
The point is the statement.
Make a large and united point that the people of the Earth WANT drastic actions taken to fight climate change.
Hi Jeff. Yes, of course, I made that point in the beginning of my article as well. The point is to raise awareness. When it started, Earth Hour successfully accomplished this, almost everyone knows about it now. But now, you just have governments and companies that are destroying the planet promoting Earth Hour and using it as cover to claim they are being environmentally responsible.
But where’s the real action? Nothing happened at Copenhagen, despite all the protests and demonstrations. Clearly, another strategy is needed if we want real change.
no arguments there. got any ideas? ha.
Yes, I’ve written about a couple. For Canada, there’s already boycotts and shareholder divestment campaigns starting because of the tar sands. As a Canadian, I fully support a BDS campaign against my country until we shut down the tar sands completely.
For the US, they will probably never reduce emissions and energy use without outside pressure. The most effective strategy here would be for third world countries (who will be most impacted by climate change after all) to band together and deny resources (especially energy resources) to the US. Without foreign oil, the US will be forced to conserve. Note the US still produces a third of the oil it uses, which should be more than enough with alternative transportation and conservation.
do you think there are any ways to bring about change without protesting, boycotting, etc? I love standing FOR things, not really a big fan of standing AGAINST them. That’s just my perspective, I don’t expect everyone to share the same sentiments.
You would be *for* things, like justice, peace, sustainability, and a good healthy environment. That’s pretty positive, isn’t it? It’s a matter of perspective I guess. Was the abolitionist movement a fight against slavery or a fight for freedom? Well, it was both. I mean, we’re all *against* the destruction of the environment, starvation and millions of people dying, right? We can be against the bad things and for the good things.
Now we’re talking semantics and philosophy….which i love, btw. ;-).
My qualm with “bad” things and “good” things is this…who’s to say what’s bad and good?
I actually wrote an article on that too. 🙂
http://www.selfdestructivebastards.com/2010/03/science-ideology-and-environment.html
This is not a scientific question. It comes down to what your values are. I think destroying the environment and letting millions die is wrong because of my morals and principles. A decadent westerner might think that their short-term indulgence and overconsumption is their right, and that is more important that the lives of poor people around the world.
Of course, I would strongly argue against anyone with the second ideology on moral grounds, and denounce such a value system.
In the City of Toronto, power consumption dipped 15.1% (a lot of people were into it here).In the Philippines, power saved was equivalent of shutting down six coal fired plants for an hour and a lot energy would be saved.