People all over the world will be turning their lights out from 8-9 PM to support Earth Hour. (go here: http://www11.earthhourus.org/ for more information and to sign up). My first thought was, "Hey! That's cool! I can do that." My second and third and fourth thoughts were, I think, what contributes to the general malaise and indifference in this country. They were: "I might be ready to sit in bed to read then," followed by, "So many other people will be doing it my one little light can't matter much," and worst of all, "Come on. How is that really going to make a difference?"
I was stopped in my tracks by the "it's all about ME" tone of those thoughts. So, I went online and watched the video. Now I am going with my first thought, my gut thought, my initial "I can do that" thought. I will turn off my lights because, while my one little light alone would not make a difference, my one little light along with millions of other lights will. I will be part of a social act, not one person alone butting her head against the world.
Last year on March 31, the inhabitants of one city - Sydney, Australia - joined with the WWF, agreeing to turn out their lights for one hour. Social activism encouraged corporate action. 2,100 corporations joined the effort. 2.2 million people turned out their lights, causing a 10.2 energy reduction in the city, the equivalent of taking 48,000 cars off the road.
Go watch the video (and check out Reducing our Human Footprint. The numbers are mind-boggling). Then turn off your lights and join the global effort to save our planet. It may not be all about me but it surely is all about us.
photo credits: www.actnow.com.au; slovenian.wunderground.com
4 comments:
Yes, we'r doingit too! We are actually going to a party of a friend who is off the grid and is into all neat green ways. It's a pot luck that has to be an itme with very low or no carbon footprint/impact...guess that leaves a lot of salads!
We lit our little candles, & sat in the dark. Gom kept checking out the windows, to see how dark the rest of our corner of the world was... not enough he said. Still, we felt we tried, & did our bit- for longer than one hour.
As luck would have it, Earth Day we were in transit here in Malaysia at the appointed time. But back in Australia my boys were doing a birthday dinner for my parents (my birthday but I always do something for my Mum - she was there too.). I'm told they had candles for the occasion.
Perth joined in and we reduced power usage by a 1/3rd.
We bought a scooter for riding around in the city too, we decided it's cheaper and more good for the environment, I'm to take a pic still and blog about ... her!!
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