Lose the Lights!!

By Elizabeth Hashagen

Have some fun in the dark this Saturday night!

Turn off your lights for "Earth Hour" -- it's your vote for planet earth.

On Saturday March 28th people from around the world will be shutting off their lights for one hour - from 8:30pm to 9:30pm in their local time zone.

It's a move that shows your commitment to energy conservation and that you want to take part in the war against pollution.

This year the World Wildlife Fund--which started the event--is calling it a vote for earth.

Earth Hour began in Sydney in 2007.

2.2 million homes and businesses switched off their lights for one hour--pretty impressive right?

By the next year the message had grown into a global sustainability movement!

2.2 million grew to a staggering 50 million people switching off their lights!! 50 million--talk about an idea catching on!   Here is a short Earth Hour Movie with Jeremy Piven.

Global landmarks like the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Rome's Colosseum, the Sydney Opera House and the Coca Cola billboard in Times Square all stood in darkness for the hour. ( This is the Sidney upera house in the dark...)

Now it's time to do it again--

2009 Earth Hour goes to the next level.

This year's goal -- 1 billion people switching off their lights!

And among those shutting off the lights..one Nassau County girl scout troop.

The girls have made it their mission to spread the word here on the Island. The 6 girls are a want  "To Make A Difference in our World and Spread the Word".

This is part of the letter Diane Kitchener wrote to me about the troop:

"We feel that there are so many programs and resources out there and our 12-13 year old girls (girl scouts) can be a liaison that reaches people and groups.We are committed to having the "Icebreakers" be a Long Island name that people recognize as (the girl scout troop that went "green") who bridged the gap from people hearing the words "go green" to "actively doing actions everyday" that helps Long Island. The girls are so pumped up right now and are excited about EarthHour."

The girls have made flyers saying " EarthHour is Sat. March 28 from 8:30-9:30pm and to Please Turn Off All Your Lights to Conserve Energy"

They've reached out to lawmakers to make sure they're doing something for Earth Hour and are collecting recycling cans to adopt a polar bear ( they already adopted one right now)

So show you're support for the earth and these young girls here on the Island who are trying to make a difference and shut off the lights Saturday night.  The planet will thank you!  If you plan on shutting off the lights, reply to the blog so the girls know you heard their message:)

Comments

[tommy]

Tend to agree with John. If we were all on equal footing, I'd sit for an hour in the dark. Is Gore going to turn off the cabin lights in his bizjet? Yeah, Elizabeth, I know I'm being petty, but I already spent this winter with my thermostat on 55 most of the time, the gas water heater on cool (makes for a fun shower...) and most of the lights off. The result? My oil, gas and electric bills all went up while I shivered under the blankets in the dark. Do agree that we've got to change what we're doing or we're going to screw up the works, though.

[John]

You know, I'm all for conservation--both for purposes of preservation and for more abstract aesthetic reasons--but I'm really getting tired of this idea that humanity is some kind of unnatural blight on the Earth and that we should make do with less because we're so rotten. I see "Earth Hour" as a vote against you and I, not a vote for "the planet," which I happen to think I'm a part of.

I'm more than a bit touchy about such things when the upper crust (including the leaders of the environmental movement) never seem to cut back, themselves. Are we conserving to help the planet or the rich? Are we making way for our grandchildren or somebody's private jet? I'm not so sure after so many years of being told about the horrors of overpopulation that never seem to manifest.

Maybe we should invest our time (and, yes, use our resources instead of hoarding them) into finding long-term energy solutions or cleaner transportation, rather than blaming us dirty humans for spoiling everything we touch. How much research and manufacturing can you possibly do when you're afraid to turn on the lights overnight?