Earth Hour is a worldwide initiative encouraging folks to turn off the lights for one hour on a Saturday evening at the start of Earth Month. (Yes, you should also turn off your television or tablet along with your lights!) In all seriousness, the spirit of Earth Hour is a great one to apply to your environmental activism – small changes really do add up.
Powering down for an hour may feel out of the norm for many high-powered and technology-dependent households. But when you see the effect, visually and in energy savings, from Earth Hour effects around the world, it really is empowering. Check out earthhour.org for this year’s date/time, and to see the changes around the world that one hour without lights can inspire.
Of course, some have argued that Earth Hour is nothing more than “slacktivism,” a way to feel good about a candlelit hour “for the environment” and to make cool, fast-forward videos without taking heed of the movement’s wider goals.
It’s also been reported that the energy it takes for large, interconnected light systems to power down for an hour (say, the lighting system in a 60-floor skyscraper) actually exceeds any savings generated by the hour without lights. Check out some of the other environmental tools on the toolkit to take your environmental activism beyond Earth Hour, and encourage those around you to do the same.
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Nick Seebruch, editor
