March 29, 2008 marked a international event: Earth Hour. Earth hour started originally in Sydney Australia in 2007. They thougth it would be a good idea to make the event international because of the success it had. Essentially what happens is that cities, towns, etc will turn off their power for one hour . From this people will realise how much energy they save and how that will save the earth from a downward spiral to hell.
When I first heard this I thought "what a fantastic idea!" Little did I know at the time how ridiculous it really is. I thought this for a few different reasons...
First: some businesses, in Calgary anyway, were using it as a way to make money. Come and rent a room at a hotel for an hour and not use electricity! All for the low price of 169$! Why not just stay home in the dark. Although it is a great way to spend 169$... I cannot think of a better way to spend that money.
Second: one news broadcasting company said "and we're participating by turning off all non essential lights in our stations across Canada"... my first thought was: if they are so non essential why bother having them in the first place?
Third: the city announced they too were turning off non essential lights. My statement above is not needed here. Apparently the non essential lights they turned off were on road ways that were high collision areas. Thanks for saving the earth but not lives!
Four: what is non essential lighting really?? Like I said before, if it is non essential get rid of it altogether. Why do downtown city buildings need all the lights on? I am sure a few would suffice and still provide a nice skyline to look at.
Don't get me wrong, the concept of Earth Hour is great. I like the idea. I think it is important for people to realise what things they do have and what they could possibly lose. After coming back from Nicaragua I have found ways to not use as much water. If it's yellow let it mellow... if it's brown flush it down. Not only does this conserve water it also saves you money. Energy works the same way... unplug things you are not using because they are still using energy and costing you money.
My husband and I participated in Earth Hour as best as we could. We unplugged most things and lit candles. We did, however, have to watch the hockey game. So did thousands of others in Calgary. This would explain why Calgary did not decrease their use of energy but in fact went up by 10%. Which 'they' blame on colder temperatures.
Granted Canada apparently had the highest participation rate... Oh canada!
2 comments:
oh sorry... you wanted a comment? :) i read this the day you wrote it and failed miserably at my responsibilities to comment.
earth hour is a nice thought, but i agree that it's silly to think it would really make much of a difference. it's a little like fast sunday... you fast for 24 hours and then PIG OUT for the next 24 hours. so technically not really much of a sacrifice, but just putting it off for later. i try not to do that... but you know... :)
oh ya... and canada rules. you're right about that too.
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