Friday, March 22, 2013

How Will You Celebrate Earth Hour?

Earth Hour.

Can you believe I'm waiting until the day before to mention it?  Talk about procrastination, right?

Earth Hour is celebrated on March 23rd.  The idea is to get people within each country to turn off all of their lights for one hour on that night.  That hour begins at 8:30 within your local time zone.



Turn out your lights at 8:30 tomorrow!

That's one hour in which you won't be using fossil fuels to produce artificial light within your home.  Oil and gas aren't renewable resources, after all.  Reducing how much they're used is essential.

Some would argue that Earth Hour is rather silly, since you end up lighting candles to compensate for the light bulbs that aren't in use at that time, thereby producing quite a bit of carbon dioxide, and they do have a point.



But!  Earth Hour is celebrated in order to give a firm reminder of what's really important: The earth itself.  When you divorce yourself from technology, even for a short period, you notice more of the world around you.

While it's true that you may be producing a decent chunk of carbon dioxide by lighting that candle, you're also creating a lasting impression on yourself... as well as anyone else around you.  You're saying that you care more about the earth than about technology.  You're saying that you want to take it back.  Give to it in the same way that it has given to us.

Think about it.  

A power outage makes you feel different.  It's almost as if your eyes and ears open wider than before, as you take in your surroundings.  Some people feel fear, while others feel excitement.  Nothing has really changed.  The lights have simply gone out for a bit.

But it feels like something major has happened.  For that brief moment, your entire world seems to have changed.

Now do that on purpose.

At 8:30 tomorrow night, turn off your lights.  All of them.  Turn off your computer while you're at it - I will!

Celebrate the earth and all it has given us.  It's only an hour - birthday parties last longer than that.

I'll be doing it.  I think I'll even throw on my snow pants, lay out in the yard, and just watch the stars.

Cross your fingers that it's a clear night!

And here's this year's official Earth Hour video for you.  Enjoy!



Personally, I think the video is a bit too 'showy', and that a bit too much light is used.  But then again, it gets people out there and excited about making changes, right?

That's what's really important.


No comments:

Post a Comment