Earth Hour
Some call it hypocrisy, some think it’s futile, some think shutting off our power for an hour only causes a larger drain on our grids when we repower later, but you know what I think? I think it is incredibly AWESOME to be a part of Earth Hour, the LARGEST voluntary environmental movement on the planet. More than 18 million people will participate, more than 5,000 cities in 135 countries have said, count me in!
What does that say to you? What is says to me is that even though the lights are off, people are waking up. They are realizing that they not only have a clear way to send a message to our governments, but they are being present and conscious and aware and taking action.
THAT’s HUGE ….
The first step towards making permanent change is awareness. The very fact that we are turning out the lights, means that we know they are on.
So, please, I invite you to join me here, for only a moment to help change the world. Come on; take your iPhone or Android out of your pocket… Yep, sure right now… I’ll wait… ok good, you got it? This will only take a few seconds, I promise. Now set up an EVENT in your calendar for this Saturday night, March 31 at 8:30pm include a reminder at 8:30 pm. Perfect, well done.
Hang on, one more little thing, you’re almost done; set the event to repeat EVERY DAY for one whole month, until April 30. It only takes about a month to create a habit. Now you’ll have an alarm or little bell going off at 8:30pm every day to bring your focus and attention back to our Earth, and the original reason you set the alarm in the first place. And you know what you’ve done? You have effectively contributed to changing the world.
There’s one more teenie weenie little request while you have your phone in your hand – call your mom or a friend, and stay with them on the phone while they set up an alarm with a reminder for a month.
So now what? It’s 8:30 Saturday night and the bell rings, what are we going to do? If you are home, take a walk around, turn what lights are on off and unplug everything you can. Yep go ahead do it, and keep it all powered down for at least an hour including the Wi-Fi in the house.
It’s amazing, can you hear it? The quiet? All the humming has stopped. WOW. And if you’re not home, that’s ok too. Take a look around wherever you are when that alarm rings and take note of what lights can be turned off, what power is being used without need. Close your eyes, and shut it all out, and breathe, because that’s what we’re allowing our Earth to do, to take a reprieve and breathe. We’re giving her a break.
The slogan for this year’s campaign is “Go Beyond the Hour”, now there’s the key, to success. Once you have participated, you realize there are so many more SIMPLE things that can be done.
- Can the bulbs in your house, can be changed to more energy-efficient CFLs or LEDs?
- Do the appliances need to be plugged in all the time?
- Does the home Wi-Fi need to be on at night when we sleep? Can you unplug it just before you brush your teeth?
- Can some of your laundry be hung outside or even inside to dry?
- Does the TV or radio really need to be on in the background?
Girl Guides – let’s go beyond the hour, across Canada; WAGGGS invites you to take the challenge, and to continue to take action for a better world.
Here’s what the First Fairview Guides of Halifax did with their Guider Lisa, to encourage you to do your part (directed and filmed by Anna)!
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Guest blogger Joyce Shanks
By guest blogger Joyce Shanks. Joyce is a certified holistic practitioner and President of eCause Canada Inc., whose mission is to provide simple, profitable, green fundraising for healthy profits and a healthy world. She can also be reached by email. Looking for more by Joyce? Read her previous posts on our blog: The World is Thirsty Because We Are Hungry!, Canadian Made: We Can Save Our Planet, Green Camping and Green of Red, Orange, Yellow and Gold Leaves .
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