Earth Hour – March 28 — Turn it ALL off
Earth Hour 2008 is happening on Saturday, March 29 from 8pm to 9pm. It is an event to raise awareness about conserving electricity. To participate, individuals, business and cities all around the world are invited to switch off non-essential lighting and electronic equipment for an hour at this specific time and date.
The idea was first adopted in Sydney last year and resulted in a pretty spectacular event with the lights shutting out on several landmarks including the Sydney Harbour Bridge as well as Sydney Opera House. On March 31st of last year, 2.2 million people and 2100 Sydney businesses turned off their lights for one hour — they called it “Earth Hour.” It is a simple concept, with could have some far-reaching, movement -sortof implications. They wanted to see what would happen if everyone, in the entire world, turned off their lights for one hour at the same time?
The world has taken notice. Inspired by the collective effort of millions during last years event in Sydney, many major global cities are joining Earth Hour in 2008, turning a symbolic event into a global movement.
Five Things You Can Do:
- Join the effort! Turn out your lights for one hour on 3/29/08 from 8-9pm.
- Spread the word. Tell your friends, family, community members, & businesses.
- Host a Earth Hour party by candle light. Invite others over for Earth Hour. You can have food, drinks, board games, a barbecue, all by candlelight!
- Use the time to discuss other ways to reduce your carbon and electricity footprint. Whether it be replacing your light bulbs or car pooling – there’s a lot you can do.
- Use the time to replace your standard light bulbs with energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs.
Fermi Blog asks some great questions for us to ponder –
How much do we rely on electricity in our daily lives?
How does electricity impact our ability to live in community?
If we did not have electricity, how would our daily lives be different?
How would communication with our family increase or decrease without electricity?
How thankful are we that we have electricity?
How does electricity define us on a daily basis?
Would our prayer life be better if we did not have electricity?
How do we view our home when it is candle lit?
What is life like in remote places where people do not have electricity?
How long could I live without electricity?
Let’s all do this and see what impact our little effort can have. Join me in this hour of quiet reflection with your lights off and ponder some of these questions with me.
