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Earth Hour 2009: March 28 8:30-9:30pm: What can you do?
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by Amy Judd | March 27, 2009 at 10:28 am
4527 views | 76 Recommendations | 21 comments
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Earth Hour 2009 is fast approaching; it happens this Saturday March 28 from 8:30 to 9:30pm and cities around the globe are gearing up to go dark for that hour.
But what can you do?
Well, at least for that one hour, turn off all non essential lights, and unplug all applicances; don't even leave things on standby. Sit in the dark or by candlelight, play a board game by candlelight, or play flashlight tag so that you don't completely go into sensory depravation for that one hour.
More than 1 billion people are expected to take part tomorrow in over 1,000 cities all across the world in a symbolic gesture to help combat climate change.
Earth Hour started two years ago in Australia and has grown in popularity ever since. Some cities even dim their famous landmarks, (see a bigger list below) such as the Coliseum in Rome and Times Square in New York. It is expected that the event will have grown by 2,000 percent this year.
Even Hollywood is taking part this year by dimming the lights on their sets.
Here in Canada, a number of events are planned for the hour and organizers are happy that so much is being done to help mark this occasion.
"Being at the centre of Earth Hour, with its humble beginnings has been inspiring," says Josh Laughren, director of communications, WWF Canada.
"It's become larger than WWF. We were surprised at how it took off. We didn't need lots of sophisticated marketing since it became a grassroots movement that spread quickly.
"It was voluntary participation with no incentives involved -- quite unheard of. Between eight to 10 million Canadians participated -- that's half the adult population of Canada. Canadians are a quiet bunch, so this says climate change is something we care about," Laughren says.
The point of Earth Hour is not to reduce electricity so much, but to raise awareness. It's a way for people to take part and make a difference, even if it's only a small part or a small difference.
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Everyone can support Earth Hour in their own way, but most cities seem to have a plan of what they are going to do:
The CN Tower in Toronto will be going dark.
The National Arts Centre in Ottawa will dim their lights.
Restaurants and hotels will be serving dinner by candlelight during that time (which is also romantic!)
The National Hockey League stadiums across North America will be going dark and in Nashville the game that was scheduled play during that time has been moved up so that the arena can go dark during the hour.
Some universities are urging students to not only do it for an hour, but for as much as they can over the whole weekend. Offices are encouraged to unplug anything non-essential before they leave on Friday so that equipment won't be running over the weekend.
Thousands of landmarks around the world will be turned off, including the Coliseum in Rome, Times Square, the city centre of Athens such as the Acropolis and the Holy Temple of Poseidon in Sounio, Canary Wharf in London, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Great Pyramids of Giza and the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. Even some hospitals and non-essential lights in airports will be dimmed or turned off completely.
The United Nations building in New York will also be unlit.
So how could you pass the time during Earth Hour 2009?
1) Talk to each other (I know, it sounds scary)
2) Go outside and look at the stars that you usually can't see
3) Draw shadow characters
4) Play a board game by candlelight
5) Play a naughty board game by candlelight
6) Spend some quality undivided attention time with your pets
7) Go to bed early....
8) Write that letter you have been putting off all this time
9) Catch up on your knitting or sewing
10) Go to bed early with someone else... ;)
Here are some ideas from NP member nazroll about what to do during Earth Hour.
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (21)
at 11:11 on March 27th, 2009
What a joke and a waste of time. There are other ways to save the world.
at 15:31 on March 27th, 2009
Would you like to make some suggestions that we can all follow?
at 04:06 on March 29th, 2009
plz mention what u have done 2 save ur earth.................. till now.. truely
this shows u have no respect 4 humanity......... shame on u
at 07:16 on June 26th, 2009
Would you mind listing a few? Let's try to make everday, A Earth Day . Here are a few tips for you
at 12:16 on March 27th, 2009
It would be cool to have a bird's eye view of the world, during this hour. Here's a clip of Toronto during last year's Earth Hour - our electricity demand dropped 8.7% during that hour.
Every little bit helps!
at 15:32 on March 27th, 2009
I agree Blue, every little bit helps and it's better than doing nothing at all I think.
at 12:22 on March 27th, 2009
so is Earth Day gone since we couldnt accomplish these suggestions for 1 day, we just reduce the goal. Next we will have Earth minute, then Earth second.
actually a good article, thanks for reminding me.
at 15:31 on March 27th, 2009
Earth Day is April 22nd - they have always been separate events.
at 15:26 on March 27th, 2009
There is absolutely nothing to do when there is no power. Unless you are with friends, might as well just sleep because it gets boooring by yourself.
at 15:34 on March 27th, 2009
Jeff... why don't you draw shadow characters like I suggested? :)
at 15:50 on March 27th, 2009
haha thats an idea amy. That'll probably just delay my sleep time by 30 seconds though.
at 16:18 on March 27th, 2009
Thanks for this, amy!
at 16:38 on March 27th, 2009
I'd like to point out that all the schools in my district observed EARTH HOUR today ... so our kids are "getting it," even if some of the parents aren't teaching it.
at 17:27 on March 27th, 2009
The Idea is good and the symbol meaningful, the results are mixed though.
Never the lass I think it is important to keep it going every year and raise awareness.
at 17:50 on March 27th, 2009
May I suggest that it.s more about feeling good than awareness. Once the hour is over, everyone goes back to their old habits. For those of us that are sincere about this issue, we try to make a difference each and every single day. Come and live in the country and learn how precious water and power is.
at 20:55 on March 27th, 2009
Count me in.
at 21:32 on March 27th, 2009
Hi Amy, hers's another clip for your piece.
at 09:08 on March 28th, 2009
if everybody would switch all lights off which are not needed at the time then that would make a huge difference too. I know many people which all do the Earth Hour thingy, but afterwards they go back to normal and leave everything running as normal.
We should start a daily Earth hour to really make a difference!
at 15:05 on March 28th, 2009
Not a waste, great idea, crib board awaits...lol
at 06:26 on June 6th, 2009
Nice Post... Talking to eachother will spook me out. lol. I thought some of the earth hour ads were a bit plain... Next year they will have to be funky... :)
at 12:12 on June 20th, 2009
I remember in my neighborhood almost no one paid attention to this. As we sat there in the dark using candles, all my neighbors continued on as normal. Obviously, the biggest problem we face is getting people to realize how serious this is. Sadly, most won't make the effort unless they can see an immediate benefit from it.
Steve