Sunday, March 30, 2008

A Dark Hour in Barrie

If there was ever an appropriate time for one to be dim, it was yesterday. It was okay for everyone to be dim......dimming your lights that is.

This morning I read the newspaper to get caught up on the events that took place in the world. How the big city buildings were plunged into darkness for an hour. How accoustic musical events took place, no amps. How the Prime Minister's house did not darken for the hour.

We actively took part in the second Earth Hour (apparently there was one held last year, but, just as with newborns, it was still in development stages). This year was quite a different matter. The people of the world chose to have a voice in what happens to our planet, turning out their houselights for just one hour, and lighting candles.

All in an effort to try and save our poor planet....our planet which is stretched beyond all means trying to keep up with an ever growing demand on power consumption.

At 7:55 pm, we had darkened the house, donned our warm clothes and headed out for a walk. At the corner, a family had their outdoor fireplace burning, and a mini Earth Hour party was happening. We continued our walk and noticed house after house in darkness.....a few candles glowing in the windows.People stood inside their houses and watched outside, waving to people as we walked by. We snarled silently at the homes who either didn't give a hoot about the whole thing or just plain forgot.

We walked for a half hour, then returned home and lit the candles on the main floor, and sat in the dim light and quiet. It was rather nice. No computer. No TV.

It didn't end at 9pm either. When the hour was over, we didn't suddenly jump up and flick on all of the lights. Na uh. We left the candles on, especially the front window candle...the one that (I hope) sent a message to all who could see it. For the remainder of the evening, we were careful about our lights, not flicking things on at random.

In the end, the whole experience was positive, in fact it was inspirational. Just think if we could do this all the time...one hour each night. Shut it all down. We have 8760 hours in a year. Doesn't sound like much does it? Take away 365 hours and just think what a difference that would make, not to mention our electricity bills.

I guess that's the bottom line. Be aware and make small changes.

.....'cause if we don't do it, nobody will.

Peace

4 comments:

Az said...

We participated in Earth Hour too. I was surprised to learn that the electrical consumption in Chicago went down only by 5% during that hour. I have a feeling that not many people were aware of Earth Hour. My daughter had no idea until I informed her about it.

I'm happy to say my hubby and I have cut down on our electric consumption this year. I hope more people become aware and are able to make small changes to help save our planet.

Barb said...

Ya know.. I'm not sure how many people were even aware of this..

Sorry for the spam but I'm letting everyone on the Heads Or Tails blogroll know that HoT has a home of its own! You can find it HERE. :)

Anonymous said...

we managed to save 10% for the entire event at ACC - better then expected given a full house.

Moral of the story - do things that have a lasting impact - put up a clothes line, go without a/c during milder summer days, shift activities to off peak times.
We have a lot more to go then we're doing now, but at least it's a start in the right direction.

lattégirl said...

Maybe next year Earth Hour will get more publicity.

Great post, btw.