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Thursday, March 26, 2009

"Mother" Earth Hour

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Let's turn off the lights, the computer and TV
and sit in the dark for an hour Saturday at 8:30pm (wherever you are)
and feel the power of our precious Mother Earth.
If outside, even better!








VOTE Earth. For more information, visit the Earth Hour Web site.

29 comments:

The Bug said...

I'm planning on it! We did it last year & it was really a good experience. At the time we said we should do it more often. But then we didn't. Sigh.

D.K.Fisher said...

This sounds like an awesome idea. I would love to sit in my house for an hour is silence...what a concept. I am going to pitch this to the family see if I can get them all on board. Thanks

VioletSky said...

I hope to look skyward, to see more clearly.

sandy said...

Thanks for the reminder!

♥ Kathy said...

I'm there. I heard about this just recently and decided then to participate. ♥

Anet said...

We're joinning in. We are going to pretend to be pioneers. Light some candles and play some games:)

Bob Johnson said...

Just posted about it as well, and tagged it Vote Earth. It is something we should strive to do daily.

Dakota Bear said...

Thank you for the reminder.

Many find a power outage an inconvenience, but I find it a time to recenter.

cathyswatercolors said...

Hi Ruth, oh no, if I turn off everything I will fall asleep.I will need to go outside or maybe play some angry cheating backgammon? It's lights out for me,now that I think of it that's when I usually go to bed anyway:)Pathetic isn't it?

Anonymous said...

Wanted to do it last year but couldn't. I'm definitely doing it this year!!

rauf said...

i don't have to Ruth, people of Chennai are special, we are the champions, we sit for hours without power, i like it, actually i love it. i sit quietly sweating. My sisters nephew and niece get upset and they are restless until the power comes back. Happens everyday. In Kerala the power goes off at specific times. In chennai any time and every time, no specific timings. i like to bear the heat. But my family cannot survive without air conditioners.

This does not mean that the people of Chennai are earth conscious, you can see the worst of consumerism here. More and more shopping malls are coming up where the exteriors are lit up with flood lights. Such a waste of energy Ruth. It is unfortunate that we have become slaves of comforts. We are not free.

i will join you Ruth even if i have visitors. Should be early morning for me.

Ruth said...

Wonderful, Bug (or should I call you The Bug?)! I said the same thing, that we should turn everything off that we can (not fridge or freezer) one weekend a month. Get off the computer, remember how it is without the hum of appliances, slow down, read. We haven't done it either.

Ruth said...

D.K.Fisher, I hope they'll be enthusiastic. I think it's cool just to know there are others doing it at the same time, and around the world at 8:30 local times. Imagining cities going dim, as in the video, it really shows that people can do what they want to do and make something happen.

Ruth said...

Sanna, figuratively?

We'll be in the hot tub, as we are every evening at around this time. So I guess we've been doing it all along. We turn off all the house lights, TV, computer, to get rid of as much light pollution as possible. Unfortunately, our neighbor's pole barn has a big flood light! I wish he'd put one up with a motion sensor. He doesn't live there, it's only his "hunting lodge" for now. :|

Ruth said...

Auntie Sandy, glad you're doing it too! 3 hours after us.

Ruth said...

Cool, ♥ Kathy, I'm so glad! Twice as many countries are participating this year over 2008: 82 this year (35 in 2008).

Ruth said...

Yay, Anet! I love your idea. There's something about candelight that connects us to the ages (I think we've talked about this before).

Did you know MSU is one of the flagship institutions participating? Inge and I are walking on the "Dim Down" walk at noon today, from the stadium to Beaumont Tower.

Oh, and I love your profile pic and admired it when you first posted it. Autumn is very talented, and I hope she is doing well in her new job.

Ruth said...

Bob, I agree, it could be a meditation of sorts, to turn everything off and contemplate our home. Actually Don and I turn off everything every night and go into the hot tub to look at the night sky. Can't turn off the heater in there though. :)

Ruth said...

Dakota Bear, you're right! Next time our power goes out "involuntarily," I'll remember that.

Ruth said...

Cathy, you are me! I am just as pathetic. Last night I was falling asleep at 7, but I managed to stay awake through The Daily Show and some Purdue vs UConn basketball. There are times in the hot tub where I almost fall asleep at 8:30. I am my mother too. Near the end of her life she wanted to go to bed at 6:30. :)

Ruth said...

Fantastic, Kanmuri! I loved your post, so many good details, and I agree with you about all those things that drive me crazy, like plastic bags.

The wiki says that when Dubai participated last year, they dimmed down 50%, and thereby reduced usage 2.4% compared to the hour before. It really bugs me to see cities like NYC all lit up at night - in the skyscrapers, when no one is in them! Pretty, but come on!! We're burning coal to make the skyline pretty. Yikes!

Ruth said...

Thank you for joining, rauf. A city like Chennai, teeming with human activity, would be a nightmare to power and keep powered up, especially with so much AC use. Bob who posts here is dimming down the mall where he works, which is so good.

Maybe you can sit out on your terrace at 8:30 and watch the city - I don't know if you have a view of the street from there. Hope a few others like Nautankey will participate in your city too.

Ruth said...

Oh, and rauf, it's 8:30pm local time, wherever you are. But if you want to join me at 8:30pm my time, that would be 6am for you I think.

PeterParis said...

I have the impression that there is little publicity about this in France, but it seems that we are part of the 82. Haven’t yet read or heard anything about this year’s event. Maybe later today or tomorrow? Even if this would not save much energy as such, it has of course a high symbolic value.

... and maybe we should not replace the light by candles, although it’s cosy? I believe they are manufactured by petrol!

I think I will participate. Even close the PC? :-)

WWF is behind this, and I have great respect for the WWF people I have met here in Paris. (I was in the forest industry ... and they liked our company; we behaved well!)

Susan said...

I think this is a grand idea. I've been trying to talk David into a rousing game of Scrabble, so maybe this will be the night.

I turn off the power strips to the TVs and all the accessories and the computer station every night. It does make a difference with all the phantom energy use.

Happy star-gazing, Ruthie!

Ruth said...

Peter, it would be a good symbolic gesture if Paris turned the lights off at the Eiffel Tower during Earth Hour. Even better if they did it regularly. It would be good publicity for climate consciousness. It would even be interesting to close it and not use the elevators for one hour of normal open hours. Ah, but these are tough economic times, and you hate to turn tourists away.

Yes, WWF is a good organization, but I don't know much about them. Good for your forestry company!

I'm glad you will participate!

Ruth said...

Susie Q! glad you're back.

We haven't had a rousing game of Scrabble in a while, that would be fun under an oil lamp.

It's good that you turn everything off via power strip. I do that at the office at the end of the day too.

I hope the night is clear, it's clear now.

Ginnie Hart said...

BTW, if everyone simply unplugged all their chargers around the house when not in use, that would save billions around the world, right? I've been shutting down my computer every night for months already but I've also just started to unplug the power cord at night...since I noticed the little green light stays on when plugged. Every little bit helps!

Ruth said...

Boots, it's true that the seconds and small increments add up. As soon as we feel that one person can't make a difference, we're in trouble.