Earth Hour again...

It's been awhile since I had anything worthwhile to write about. I found out that last night was Earth Hour. You might remember last year, that I blogged about this yearly one hour movement. Basically, on the same day everyone agrees to turn off their lights at 8:30pm (local time) for an hour. It seems like such a small act but, when combined with about 80 million people around the world, it can have a profound effect on the Earth and the people on it. Last year was pretty interesting.

This year, countries around the world turned off the lights of well known monuments and landmarks that require tons of lights. Here's a picture of watch the Great Giza Pyramids and Sphinx look like with the lights turned off. Pretty cool and ominous looking. Here are some more images taken from around the world. The whole idea behind Earth Hour is to show support and awareness for climate change (global warming for the old school folks). It started three years ago and this year about one billion people participated. If you didn't get a chance to join this movement here's a list of everyday things that can be done. We only have one habitable planet, so we better start taking better care of it.

Start doing any of these things:

• Turn off lights when you leave a room for 10 minutes or longer.
• Drink filtered tap water instead of bottled water.
• Put your computer in power-save or sleep mode.
• Turn off video game consoles when not in use.
• Seal air leaks, adjust your water heater, and control your thermostat to lower energy usage and waste.
• Go meatless on Mondays.
• Watch out for energy vampires around the house and unplug the biggies.
• Swap out all your light bulbs for CFLs.
• Stop catalogs and junk mail from piling up in your mailbox.
• Reduce the brightness of your TV set to the "home" mode.
• Use up leftovers and avoid wasting food.
• Find out how walkable your hometown is and try walking to your weekend errands.
• Fix a leaky faucet or toilet.
• Use the low-water and low-heat settings on your dishwasher, and don't pre-rinse dishes.
• Hang your clothes to dry on a clothesline in spring and summer.
• Use the washers when you have a full load.
  
• Take public transit to work or school.
• Install dimmer switches on your lights and plug appliances into smart power switches.

Most of these don't cost much and can actually save you money. Got any other ideas?

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Now playing: The Hex Girls - Earth, Wind, Fire, And Air
via FoxyTunes

Turn Off The Lights, People!

Hey everyone,

Later today is Earth Hour. At 8:30pm local time around the world, tons of people have pledged to turn their lights off. It will be quite amazing to see the impact of millions of people keeping their lights off for only an hour. But why stop there? You could also consider turning off electronics that aren't being used like the printer, computer monitor or even the DVD player. Or turn off the TV and plan a board game night or romantic evening with a loved one. If your single, consider taking some time out for yourself and enjoy a bubble bath.

Earth Hour started in Australia in 2007. It was so amazing it was expanded to a worldwide event. In 2008, over 50 million people took a stand and switched off their lights. This year the WWF surpassed their target of 1000 cities participating. Over 1,189 cities and towns across 80 countries have signed up. There are a few things you can do to make this historical event more interactive. You can take a picture or capture video of your city during the hour, and upload it on the web. I've pledged, have you?