Earth Hour 2010

Join the global movement known as Earth Hour today - Saturday, March 27, 2010 at 8:30 pm (your local time). We'll be right there with you. Our family has participated for the last two years and it's interesting to see how momentum is growing for this little movement. Over 25 state governments across the US are participating this year (I wish I could say that it was all 50!).

How do you join? Simple. Just don't use any electricity for one hour. Spend the time talking to your family, playing board games by candlelight, noticing how quiet things are when we don't use so much electricity. This year, there's even an Earth Hour Kids webpage to help get you started.

Does an event like Earth Hour have an impact? Does it really save energy?

The first Earth Hour, celebrated in Sydney, Australia in 2007, had around two million participants. Last year, "[n]early one billion people turned out for Earth Hour 2009 – involving 4,100 cities in 87 countries on seven continents," according to the Earth Hour website.

Despite this wonderful outpouring of support, the overall effect of Earth Hour on energy usage has not proven to be significant. (As I wrote in my Thoughts About Earth Hour last year, some cities only reported a 1% decrease in power usage during the event.)

However, I think Earth Hour does two things extremely well:

* Before and after pictures taken of participating cities show us, in vivid detail, the extensive and sometimes devastating impact of light pollution on our society (speaking as someone who can seldom see the stars where I live!).

* More importantly, participation in Earth Hour makes us -- individually and collectively -- stop and think about what we are doing, how we are living, and why we are making these choices. To me, this is the most important reason to participate: to join in the global dialogue.

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If you liked this post, you might enjoy:

- Earth Hour 2009

- Earth Hour 2008

- Thoughts About Earth Hour

Thoughts about Earth Hour

My family participated in Earth Hour 2009 on Saturday night. I felt a little guilty in the hour beforehand, as we frantically ran the vacuum, brewed coffee, and checked E-mail before turning off our electricity. But then, 8:30 pm arrived and we switched off the main circuit breaker.

And lo and behold ... wait! ... the stove is still on? We learned a valuable piece of information about our new house -- the stove and central air aren't connected to the main circuit breaker!

After finally turning off the power with the aid of a second circuit breaker, we sat in the dark and talked about how quiet it was. How many electrical appliances do we really need? What can we, as a family, do to reduce our electricity usage?

Then we read stories by flashlight and candlelight. It was very quiet and peaceful. The almost four-year-old and baby fell asleep. Itinerant Cryptographer, Kerm, and I read long past Earth Hour until finally, my curiosity got the better of me and I logged onto the computer.

In all, an estimated one billion people in nearly 90 countries participated in Earth Hour 2009, according to World Wildlife Fund, the original organizer of the event. Did Earth Hour really make an impact?

Some places reported a decline in power use during the hour: a one-percent reduction for Calgary and northern Illinois. Statistically significant? Probably not.

But did people world-wide start talking about how much electricity we waste? You bet. And opening that dialogue is tremendously exciting. We have to start somewhere.

Photo credit: Kimberley.♥
Photo available through a
Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license

Earth Hour 2009

It seems like I was just sitting in the dark, celebrating Earth Hour 2008, yet here we are again -- bigger and better!

This Saturday, March 27, 2009, remember to turn off your electricity for an hour from 8:30 - 9:30 pm (your local time) in honor of Earth Hour. This grassroots movement was started in Sydney, Australia in 2007, when over two million homes and businesses switched off the electricity for an hour. Last year, the movement spread across the globe, with participating cities including San Francisco and Rome. The goal this year is to have 1 billion people participate -- one billion people showing their concern for global warming and their willingness to do something about it. MSNBC reports that 2000 cities will participate in Earth Hour this year, including Las Vegas! I can't wait to see the Strip dark for an hour, can you? Imagine that ...

Website of the Week: Earth Hour

Looking for something different to do this week-end? Turn off your lights this Saturday, March 29, 2008 at 8 pm, and take part in Earth Hour.

Earth Hour began in Sydney, Australia on March 31, 2007 when over two million people turned off their electricity for one hour. This event was initiated by World Wildlife Fund as a way to make an inspirational statement about climate change. In one year, it has grown into a global movement. This special hour highlights the fact that we are all interconnected on this planet and that our global efforts to combat climate change – when taken together – could have a real and measurable impact.

Not sure what to do with your hour? Check out Ten Things to Do in the Dark, which includes suggestions such as replacing your traditional light bulbs with energy efficient ones, reading together, or taking the time to discuss environmental topics as a family.

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[Update: 3/27/10 - changed number of 2007 participants from two thousand to two million, as per the Earth Hour website]