Earth Hour March 28, 2008, 8:30 PM to 9:30 PM

On Saturday, March 28, 2009, at 8:30 pm, I am taking part in Earth Hour, a global event in which tens of millions of people will turn out their lights for one hour to make a statement of concern about our living planet and send a message to support action on climate change.



This event is sponsored by World Wildlife Fund. Earth Hour got started just two years ago and is now the largest event of its kind in the world.


Australia, being a day ahead of us, has already experienced Earth Hour for 2009. This is Perth, Australia taken from Kings Park with lights on and during Earth Hour.









Click on this link to see a really cool slide show of before and after pictures of cities all over the world. See if your city is participating. This is Atlanta, GA last year.







Here are a few ideas for things to do in the dark…by yourself or with others:

1. Enjoy a romantic candlelit dinner with someone special using organic or sustainably grown food items.


2. Invite friends and family over for a “lights-out” party and serve green-themed snacks and drinks


3. Turn off the lights and power down the computer and cell phone. Use the quiet time to take a break from a “plugged-in” world by meditating or resting.


4. Take a bubble bath by candlelight.


5. Use the hour for practical tasks that you never seem to have time for. Test essential items in your emergency preparedness kit like flashlights, radios, and cell phones. Change out all your light bulbs to energy-efficient CFLs. Change the batteries in your smoke detectors. Think about how you would evacuate your house in an emergency in the dark.


6. Read a book set in an era without electricity. Marvel that the Romans conquered much of the world without a single cell phone and that Shakespeare wrote masterpieces without a laptop or the Internet.


7. Turn off the computer and write a letter by candlelight the old-fashioned way using pen and paper.


8. Invite friends over to play charades or Scrabble by candlelight.


9. View the night sky via telescope--the reduced “light pollution” may make some stars more visible.


10. Take photos of how you spent Earth Hour and post them on your blog.