What Activities Can I Do When I Turn Off the Lights for Earth Hour? (It's Baaa-ck!)

Mother Nature Network ^ | March 19, 2010 | Chanie Kirschener

[Diana in Wisconsin]

(There are many candlelit activities to do with family or friends when you turn off the lights for an hour to raise awareness about climate change.)

Q: Earth Hour is coming up on March 27 and I, for one, am excited to get in on the action and turn off my lights. One question though – what the heck am I supposed to do in the dark for a whole hour?

A: You’ve come to the right place, my friend. For those of you who don’t know, the World Wildlife Fund started Earth Hour three years ago, asking people to turn off their lights for one hour to raise awareness about the need to take action on climate change. It has since become a global phenomenon, with more and more people turning out their lights each year.

In 2009, nearly 1 billion people in 4,100 cities in 87 countries on seven continents turned out their lights for Earth Hour. The only question many people have is exactly yours. What am I supposed to do in the dark for a whole hour? Well, I’ve got some great ideas for ways you can spend Earth Hour. And you know what? These activities are so fun, you won’t even remember to turn on the lights come 9:30.

Eat a candlelit dinner.

Prepare the whole meal in advance and make sure the table’s set, so you don’t stab anyone with the dinner knives while trying to set the table in the dark. Then, once you switch off the lights, settle down at the table and enjoy a candlelit dinner. Whether it’s with your honey, your family, or just a friend or two, you’ll be sure to enjoy.

If you’ve got kids, play games with or tell them stories.

How often is Saturday night just movie night? This Saturday night, get the kids together for some ghost stories by candlelight or a game of Monopoly. If you’re really ambitious, you can even try building a fort with them in your living room.

Look at old picture albums.

In this day and age, everything’s electronic — on a hard drive, a memory card, a USB stick, in an online album somewhere on the Internet. You get my point. For Earth Hour, why not pull out the dusty albums from years past (everybody’s got one somewhere) and leaf through some old pictures of yourself or your family by candlelight. You can even make it into a game (“Who can find the only picture ever taken of Grandma in a two-piece?”). It’s sure to make for some good times, good memories and some great stories.

Get some friends together for a game night.

What says, 'I care about the Earth' more than Taboo by candlelight? And the best part of it is, it’ll be dark enough that nobody will see you cheating.

Go outside for some stargazing.

When was the last time you looked up at the sky and actually saw more than a few stars? That’s because with all the light pollution out there these days, it’s hard to see much of anything in the sky besides the moon — or the lights of a passing plane if you’re lucky. Take advantage of the Earth Hour opportunity, and head outside for some good old-fashioned stargazing. Unless of course, you’re fortunate enough to live in Salt Lick, Ky. — then you might see stars any ol’ night of the year.

Don’t forget to check out this video promo for Earth Hour 2010, featuring landmarks across the world that went dark for 2009’s Earth Hour, including the Eiffel Tower in Paris and the Empire State Building in New York City — definitely inspiring to watch. And remember, no matter how you decide to spend Earth Hour, know that you’re one of billions of people joining together to take a stand on the future of our planet, and that, my friends, is more than enough.

[Stosh]

“What Activities Can I Do When I Turn Off the Lights for Earth Hour? “

Dear Earth Hour participant: In answer to your question, I’d suggest as a possible activity that you remove your head from the orifice in which it’s currently inserted, and see if you notice any difference.

[magooey]

Point your lights skyward,last year they said they would be taking satellite pictures.

How can we curse in Morse code?

[Blood of Tyrants]

Don’t forget to turn the heat on high and open the doors!

[Grizzled Bear]

What a bunch of pikers! Most of North Korea’s people do this every night!

[nomad]

Yes,say “Up your`s” by turning on as many lights as you can.Should have seen my house,lit like a christmas tree!Even my halogen work lamps out on the porch,shinning skyward.

[Freedom Frayed]

Or drive around with BRIGHTS on, and interior lights too! Or, if you’re in your (well lit) home, fire up the grill, invite neighbors over and serve some brats and burgers to build a conservative community coalition, and don’t forget the fireworks, just to light up the sky and confuse those sitting “in the dark!”

Share your thoughts about this administration and the havoc they’ve wreaked on our lives and families, and collect names and numbers to plan for future “events” together, and to build your very own conservative community organization!

[Tzimisce]

....isn’t burning candles bad for the environment?

[upcountryhorseman]

I’ll carry on as usual. We do our own power using solar
panels, industrial batteries and a generator.

[exnavy]

We turn every light in the house ALL DAY LONG !

[ctdonath2]

Another FReeper noted The idiots don't realize it takes more energy to turn those lights on again in an hour than it would of used just to keep them on.

[Cvengr]

Promoting a public campaign to switch off all electrical power simultaneously is a very stupid idea. It’s difficult to balance phases and loads throughout distribution systems when people do this, making it very likely that the electrical grid might fail.

It’s sort of like having everybody in a high rise building go to one floor and start jumping up and down at one time, or everybody leaning on one side of a ship simultaneously.

A good way to promote catastrophic failure. An accident looking for a place to happen.

BTW, once its done one year, their power rates for that same period will be statistically influenced, so that if it isn’t also artificially observed the following year, the power company might charge a higher utility rate for power usage in that same period the following year.

[steelyourfaith]

 

Celebrate Human Achievement Hour,
March 27, 2010 ! Force of Darkness “Earth Hour” Challenged by Power of Light “Human Achievement Hour”

CEI Announces 2nd Annual Celebration of Human Achievement

Washington, D.C., March 19, 2010—The Competitive Enterprise Institute, a leading free-market think tank, will celebrate the Second Annual “Human Achievement Hour” between 8:30pm and 9:30pm on Saturday, March 27, 2010. The one-hour celebration coincides with “Earth Hour,” an hour in which governments, individuals, and corporations will dim or shut off lights to symbolically renounce the environmental impacts of modern technology.

“Earth Hour’s creators suggest that human inventions and technology are a problem, but we see the ability to create and innovate as the ultimate resource,” says Human Achievement Hour founder and CEI Policy Analyst Michelle Minton. “Environmental challenges will not be solved by turning off our lights and symbolically hiding in the dark,” Minton added. “If anything, we should be looking to technology and innovation to help solve environmental problems.”

Just like last year, countless individuals, organizations, agencies and businesses will be celebrating Human Achievement Hour without even realizing it. Just by not shutting down their lights, operations and stores, they will be acknowledging that productive effort and the pursuit of happiness are a better alternative than sitting in the dark.

In addition to the observance of Human Achievement Hour, wherever people may find themselves around the world, CEI will be hosting a happy hour event outside of Washington, D.C.

Human Achievement Happy Hour
Saturday, March 27, 2010
7:30pm-10:00pm

Rira Irish Pub and Restaurant
2915 Wilson Boulevard
Arlington, Virginia
703-248-9888

MORE RESOURCES: Watch the video “Celebrate Human Achievement Hour,” follow us on Twitter and join the Facebook group.

###

CEI is a non-profit, non-partisan public policy group dedicated to the principles of free enterprise and limited government. For more information about CEI, please visit our website at www.cei.org.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

“Ira Einhorn took the life of one woman, while the movement that he had a hand in founding seeks to steal the life from all of us.”

BUMP!

[norge]

My lights went on full blaze at 8:30 sharp and went off at precisely 9:30.

When the lights are on, my house can be seen for almost 2 miles, and normally they are never on.

[Nebr FAL owner]

Go to the parking lot of the local enviroweenie org. & burn a gasoline soaked tire 8*)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Quit confusing the EcoWeenies with Reality, LOL!

I’m off to cruise the Greenie Boards to see if this made one smattering of a difference to ‘Mudder Ert’.