Some of you may remember how excited I was about the first ever Earth Hour last year. Well it's on again, and this time the rest of the world are joining in. It's on tomorrow night, 29th March, and the idea is that at 8pm you switch off your lights and unplug all non-essential appliances for just one hour in a plan to save electricity and reduce emissions. Last year the aim was to reach a 5% reduction in Sydney, but the result was a 10.2% energy reduction across the city, surprising the organisers, and proving that a small act can make a big difference.So pencil it in, make a mini-event of it. Sit in the dark, or by candle light, make shadow puppets, lie in the backyard on a big rug and look up at the stars, go for a walk and enjoy the stillness of the night... use your imagination, just don't use electricity or a motor.
It was a beautiful event in Sydney last year. Restaurants filled with hundreds of candles, people walking around the streets either lazily with their dogs, or dashing to make it to their destination before the "switch-off". And without using electricity, the vibe was electric.
For more information visit: www.earthhour.org
On March 31 2007, for one hour, Sydney made a powerful statement about the greatest contributor to global warming – coal-fired electricity – by turning off its lights. Over 2.2 million Sydney residents and over 2,100 businesses switched off, leading to a 10.2% energy reduction across the city. What began as one city taking a stand against global warming caught the attention of the world.
In 2008, 24 global cities will participate in Earth Hour at 8pm on March 29. Earth Hour is the highlight of a major campaign to encourage businesses, communities and individuals to take the simple steps needed to cut their emissions on an ongoing basis. It is about simple changes that will collectively make a difference – from businesses turning off their lights when their offices are empty, to households turning off appliances rather than leaving them on standby.
7 comments:
"lie in the backyard on a big rug"
With all the snow out there, I don't think that is a good idea for me. :) I'll take the dog for a walk instead or make shadow puppets. :)
You could build an igloo! hehehe ;)
No igloo building for me! I'm done with the cold. Got some yellow pansies for my front porch to tie me over until the tulips pop up. All the snow melted finally, and now it is just lots of rain.
So how did it turn out? Did they beat last year's energy saving numbers? Did you do anything fun during the "dark hour"? :)
Hi Beth,
Yeah it was fun. We switched everything off early and made our way to a nearby pub who we had read were participating. I double checked with the waitress and she was soooo excited about doing it. We had a pizza and salad on one of the outside tables, and at 8pm they set up tealight candles and switched off the lights. Unfortunately they left on all the arcade games and vending machine lights along one whole wall, so it kind of spoiled the impact. We went back home and sat in the dark together talking. Tilli our cat thought it was hillarious!
Not many of our neighbours seemed to be participating, but because we have so many trees it blocked out all light and it was pitch black at our house, with millions of stars. :)
It's funny, a bit like when you go camping, without the stimulus of tv or music, you learn your natural bedtime. Mine is about 9pm evidently, 2 hours earlier than when I normally go to bed.
I haven't looked into the energy figures yet, information takes a while to get to us now being so far from the city. I'll go find out now.
I didn't turn everything off for an hour BUT I did go one full day without turning my electric heat on in the house, it was chilly to me but the kids didn't even seem to notice.
I reckon that evens out Jen, good job!
Yeah, I was thinking about you guys knee deep in snow. It's a great time of year to do it here because it's not super hot anymore, and hasn't got cold yet, but for you guys it's badly timed.
Hey flossy - I knew you'd do something for earth hour! I think Melbourne did quite well, something like 15% reduction. It was fun to be candlelit. :-)
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