Monday, March 28, 2011

Earth Hour 2011

     Pamela Rezansoff did an extraordinary thing on March 26 by turning off all appliances and lights and making her family wear warm, winter clothing; the only thing on was the fridge for food. There were abut 10 million Canadians expected to turn off their lights between 8:30pm to 9:30pm. Earth Hour was first introduced in Sydney, Australia in 2007, where 2.2 million homes and more than 2000 businesses turned off their lights. In 2008 there were 50 million people participating in 35 different countries. In 2009 there were approximately 1 billion people who participated in 88 countries. The World Wildlife Fund, who is the organizer, has stated that the numbers this year in Canada will surpass that of 2010. Major landmarks like the CN Tower, Golden Gate Bridge, etc. go in darkness for this event. 

     I think this Earth Hour is the best thing that has ever happened to gage awareness for global warming. If people turn off their lights it can save so much more money for the cities, companies, etc. Electric plants do not have to run as hard, allowing us to save more energy and not lead to pollution. I think this event should be more than once and perhaps once a month or at least once a season. People do not understand how one household or even one light switch can make a difference for the entire world. As proud participant since day one, I am so glad that an event like this has been recognized and that the number keeps growing. People will soon understand what it means by being green. It takes one little finger roll on a light switch. If we don't protect the Earth now, who knows what we could eventually lead to.  

Link:
http://www.montrealgazette.com/technology/Canadians+power+down+this+year+Earth+Hour/4507365/story.html

Photo Link:
http://www.photosfan.com/earth-hour/

1 comment:

  1. I would rather have lit up extra bulbs
    in protest at the coming ban on regular incandescent light bulbs ;-)
    - there is no energy shortage for electricity
    justifying telling what paying consumers can use,
    especially since the overall energy savings are less than 1%,
    also from US Dept of Energy and EU institutional statistics ( ceolas.net/#li171ax )


    PS Why a light bulb ban is particularly wrong in Canada
    ceolas.net/#li11x
    .

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