Earth Hour is taking place on a global scale this year and is being held on the 29th March 2008. After last years success in Sydney, the event has expanded to many more cities in Australia and across the planet. The event is a simple and symbolic one. The idea is to turn all of your lights, including the television and PC screens (after all they are lights too) for one hour starting at 8pm as a sign of action against climate change. A kind of grass roots uprising if you like, but in a non-violent way.
The event was created by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and last year over 2 million of Sydney’s residents and over two thousand businesses took part and reduced the city’s electricity consumption by 10%. A pretty good effort with just lighting.
Imagine what would happen if everyone turned their lights and all appliances off at the wall! I did read that the Queensland government are encouraging their citizens to participate in an “Unplugged Day” on the 3rd of April 2008. I hope they get a good turnout, as we did here at home when we had our own unplugged day! I think that they will get more out of it than just emissions savings for both Earth Hour and Unplugged Day.
Here are some ideas I came up with to do during Earth Hour;
- Have a candle lit dinner with a loved one,
- Play a board game with the kids,
- Hold an Earth Hour party and chat with friends,
- Relax in a bubble bath surrounded by candles,
- Invite a friend who can play a musical instrument and sing songs,
- Discuss climate change with your family and plan to take at least one simple action each week for the next few weeks to promote energy efficiency around the home.
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