turn off the lights, turn off the lights
If Earth Hour doesn't have a theme song yet, they really should talk to Nelly Furtado, because she has a song that would, like, totally fit.
Oh, they already did. I thought I was onto a winner there...
Anyway, last night it was Earth Hour, and despite the rest of the town doing little to dim their lights (at least from what we could tell by peering out the window at various neighbours), Frank and I flicked the switch.
I have a sneaking suspicion Earth Hour is a bit of a gimmick, but if it raises awareness of our contribution to climate change then I'm all for it. I'm so all for it I threw in a few extras for good measure:
- Showered by candle light - this was justified as essential preparation for night shift, plus the realisation that the water heated up during the off peak period the night before, so technically I was not using power during the all important hour.
- Allowed the bathroom mirror to become steamy by avoiding use of the extraction fan.
- Switched off the computer and did not check my email or blog comments every five minutes like I usually do.
- Delayed blow drying my hair until after Earth Hour - technically this did nothing to reduce my electricity use since I only put off the consumption of power. I suppose it helps that the blow drying took a few seconds less because my hair was already partially dry.
- Watched not a skerrick of television and talked to Frank instead. When I wasn't in the shower that is. And I don't watch much television anyway, so not much was gained here really.
- Used the old manual toothbrush instead of the new electric brush, and even remembered to turn the toothbrush charger off before Earth Hour. This was an all round winner!
- Lit bees wax candles given to me so long ago I cannot remember who gave them, but I say thankyou to whoever you are!
Labels: environment
posted by cecily @ 2:13 pm
6 comments
6 Comments:
They made it a bit of a project here. The area High School kids had a little competition to see who could get the most power shut off in their town. We just kiled all but the furnace and went to bed early:)
funniest thing ever - we were talking about earth hour at supper and what we were going to do for it and my mom, who, lovely woman that she is, is still a bit behind with these things but is trying said, "Oh, i guess we could turn off the lights and then just go shopping at wal-mart during that time."
i laughed and laughed...
Maybe my head is in the clouds. I missed the whole thing! Good for you though Cecily.
I was walking yesterday and my morbid thoughts came together as usual. I was thinking that if we were to destroy ourselves, which we know is a possibility, I hope mother nature will claim back what is hers and start over. Nature being so gracefully strong, will just over power all the damage we've done and give it another shot. I know, morbid right?
It's the spirit of the thing, this taking the time to contemplate our impact on our environment and our day to day options. You may be right that it's a gimmick, but it does get people to thinking.
Next time you could get more time talking with Frank if only he would be in the shower with you - saves water, too. ;) ;) ;)
Good for you, Cecily, for participating and for sharing your experience with us. I enjoyed it very much - any time a person talks about quiet, candle light, and ignoring the computer I am so there!
I thought the event was Sunday night and missed it. :(
And Sandy, not morbid at all. "Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught will we realize that we cannot eat money."
19th century Cree Indian saying
Someone on my sitemeter did a search for Cecily Blog and both of ours came up. I am always so interested in people who share my name, since there seem to be very few...and we even spell it the same way.
I must live in a cave (not really, just UTah) because I didn't find out about Earth Hour until way after the fact. Your celebration of it seems just about perfect though.
I love that phrase, "not a skerrick of television." My favorite days are those on which I watch not a skerrick.
I, too, missed the event completely, but does reading about your observation of it count for something??
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