If I think hard about the "Earth Hour" thing, I have more negative than positive thoughts about it (negative more in the "how is this really going to help in the end?" and not in the "this is a stupid idea" way)... but I have to say that the first time I heard about it, my first thought was that it was a far, far better idea than the whole "Don't buy gasoline" days.
I'm sorry, but all that "don't buy gasoline" days do is delay me buying gasoline for a day.
The "Earth Hour" concept is different. By turning off the lights for one hour, that is one hour of actual energy that I'm not using. It's not like I'm delaying the energy use (unless, say, I simply delay the things I would've done during that time period and stay up an hour later). If I decide that on that hour, I will not do the time-wasting stuff that I do with electricity (like watching a movie I've already seen because I'm bored), then that's actually helping in the end. It's allowing me to be creative about what to do at a time when I normally would have the lights on. My partner and I are planning on a walk during the evenings instead of during the daytime so that we can turn off our lights more frequently in the spirit of "Earth Hour". The township has the lights on anyway, so our route will be lit and we can save the energy and money we would've spent by a small tweak in our typical habits.
In a way, it is sad that it took something like "Earth Day" for me to think about this sort of energy conservation. I know that it's a fault on my part, so I'm pleased that there are initiatives that make me stop and consider changes within a context that I would not normally consider.
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I'm sorry, but all that "don't buy gasoline" days do is delay me buying gasoline for a day.
The "Earth Hour" concept is different. By turning off the lights for one hour, that is one hour of actual energy that I'm not using. It's not like I'm delaying the energy use (unless, say, I simply delay the things I would've done during that time period and stay up an hour later). If I decide that on that hour, I will not do the time-wasting stuff that I do with electricity (like watching a movie I've already seen because I'm bored), then that's actually helping in the end. It's allowing me to be creative about what to do at a time when I normally would have the lights on. My partner and I are planning on a walk during the evenings instead of during the daytime so that we can turn off our lights more frequently in the spirit of "Earth Hour". The township has the lights on anyway, so our route will be lit and we can save the energy and money we would've spent by a small tweak in our typical habits.
In a way, it is sad that it took something like "Earth Day" for me to think about this sort of energy conservation. I know that it's a fault on my part, so I'm pleased that there are initiatives that make me stop and consider changes within a context that I would not normally consider.