How Was Your Earth Hour?
Well, another successful Earth Hour. For those of you that participated, I’m sure the glow from knowing you did your part to save the planet lasted all weekend. Today, you’ll have to restart your computers, reset clocks and get back to your real life. I’ll bet you can hardly wait to do it again next year!
For those of you in the dark about why the lights went out for an hour on the Golden Gate Bridge and many buildings Saturday night, it was the second annual grand gesture to raise awareness of global warming climate change. Our office building was one of those that went dark for an hour to demonstrate support, and we turned off everything in our office except the AS/400 which I suspect would have burned more power to restart than letting it idle for the hour. I’m sure you saw it on the news and wished you’d participated. You’ll have to wait until next year to get that “green all over” feeling.
Or will you? What if you turn everything off for an hour tonight? Oh, you won’t get any recognition from your peers for “caring” but you’ll know, deep in your heart of hearts, that you, too, helped save the world from global warming climate change.
What’s that? It only counts if your fellow greenies know you were on the front lines? Oh, yeah. Well, next year, right? See ya’ there.
Doug
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I notice Google changed the color of their screen as their way to participate in Earth Hour. But their servers stayed up.
Actually, Rawley, it wasn't just a symbolic gesture on their part. An all white web page uses about 74 watts to display, while an all black page uses only 59 watts. With +200 million queries on Google, switching from white to black would save a decent amount of energy, depending on your monitor type.
Doug
We need to do this on a regular basis. And maybe have it in the middle of the day as well… get away from Twitter, YouTube, instant messages, email, Adobe CS3… a book, a magazine, an in-person conversation, a pen and paper. It’s not just saving electricity. It’s rethinking how things can be done.
What did you do for Earth Hour?
We spent ours sitting in a nearby cow paddock looking at the stars. We have promised to do it more often!
We got out some candles and had dinner by candlelight. All the kids voted to keep the television on but I suppose the fact that it was an Energy Star model counts for something.
I read that Ontario electricity consumption was down 5.2 percent, Toronto’s consumption was down 8.7 percent, while in Christchurch it was decreased by 13.1 percent. Worldwide energy consumption was down by 12.5 percent, which is more than twice the reported goal. Pretty amazing.
Not too successful in a house with four boys! We gave it a try with some compromises because I wasn't prepared with enough candles and hadn't briefed everyone beforehand (I forgot until 7:55).
So Earth Hour came and went...our version of it anyway, and our carbon footprint is a tiny bit smaller because of it. :)
Earth Hour is definitely catching on – after starting in Sydney last year, it has attracted the attention of cities around the globe. From Dubai to Atlanta, lights were switched off this weekend. It seems ironic, then, that Sydney put on a fireworks display immediately after earth hour. Makes you think that it has become a token display to make us all feel good about ourselves.
On March 31 2007, Sydney made a powerful statement about the greatest contributor to global warming – coal-fired electricity – by turning off its lights. Over 2.2 million Sydney residents and over 2,100 businesses switched off, leading to a 10.2% energy reduction across the city. What began as one city taking a stand against global warming caught the attention of the world….In 2008, 24 global cities participated in Earth Hour at 8pm on March 29“
If you are interested in this campaign, you can view the “Where it All Began” Video from the Earth Hour site here.
"For those of you in the dark...."
Good one Mr. A!
We did our part. Went out to dinner and a movie, didn't get home until after 10 when we turned on the lights until bed. I feel soooo green!
I was on Mars. They don't celebrate and my atomic clock kept trying to carbon date my fingernails.
.....I really have no idea what I just said......
You OK, Brudda? Or did you get a "funny" cigar?
Doesn't even LOOK like mankind! And I don't think it's to scale, either!
In order to understand "mankind" we must examine the word itself.
Basically, it's made up of two separate words: "mank" and "ind". What do these words mean? It's a mystery and that's why so is mankind.
Earth looks so embarrassed. I blame stupid t-shirt makers!
"The planet has been through a lot worse than us. Been through all kinds of things worse than us. Been through earthquakes, volcanoes, plate tectonics, continental drift, solar flares, sun spots, magnetic storms, the magnetic reversal of the poles…hundreds of thousands of years of bombardment by comets and asteroids and meteors, worldwide floods, tidal waves, worldwide fires, erosion, cosmic rays, recurring ice ages... And we think some plastic bags, and some aluminum cans are going to make a difference? The planet... the planet... the planet isn’t going anywhere. WE ARE!
We’re going away. Pack your *****, folks. We’re going away. And we won’t leave much of a trace, either. Thank God for that. Maybe a little Styrofoam. Maybe. A little Styrofoam. The planet’ll be here and we’ll be long gone. Just another failed mutation. Just another closed-end biological mistake. An evolutionary cul-de-sac. The planet’ll shake us off like a bad case of fleas. A surface nuisance." -George Carlin
And why doesn't the MOON get a t-shirt?
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=25740
Wasting Time: Earth Hour
by Dan Proft
"The latest, ahem, bright idea from the country that gave us Crocodile Dundee is for the globe to collectively turn off its lights for an hour this Saturday, March 29 at 8pm local time.
Apparently, a bunch of neo-Luddites in Sydney, Australia, did this last year and it made them feel good about themselves so they have decided to give the rest of the world a chance to achieve similar sense of self-worth.
Because, if we are being honest, Earth Hour, like its forefathers, is not about environmental policy, it is about social networking and self-importance.
Earth Hour is for those consumed with monitoring their carbon footprint and confused about why they do. "
....I could not have said it better myself...I think it is time Australia keeps to itself! Stupid kangaroos
Good one Jamie! LOL