Laura
on - last edited on
It's pretty clear that all of us on the Community loooooooove our technology. I know that I've been guilty of sitting at my computer with my ipod dock blaring, texting on one phone and talking on the other with the TV on in the next room *just so it isn't too quiet* (you get the idea). Which is why I'm so happy that Future Shop (and myself) will be participating in Earth Hour this year!
Not to be confused with Earth Day, Earth Hour is a movement that started in Sydney, Australia in 2007 when 2.2 million homes and businesses turned off their lights as a declaration that everyone can make a difference in the fight against global warming. The campaign went global in 2008 with over 50 million people from 35 countries participating - 10 million of which were Canadians! This year, the event is looking to make an even bigger impact: 1 billion participants!
To help achieve this ambitious goal, Future Shop stores will be turning off their outside store signs and their inside demos on March 28th, 2009 at 8:30 pm (local time no matter where you are).
But sitting in the dark for an hour? Really? The folks over at Earth Hour have created a short list of activities that you can do to keep busy (number 11 is what I plan on doing):
1. Attend a local Earth Hour event or organise your own by throwing an Earth Hour street party with your neighbours
2. Gather family & friends for a night picnic in your local park and look at the stars
3. Enjoy a family dinner by candlelight
4. Organise a treasure hunt in the dark
5. Take the dog for a night walk
6. Have a candle-lit bath
7. Sit in the dark and share stories
8. Organise a family night playing board games
9. Share a romantic night in with your loved one
10. Upload your ‘on the night’ photos and videos to flickr and YouTube respectively, and then add them to the Earth Hour flickr group and the global YouTube Group.
11. Shut down your laptop, lace up your sneakers and go for a run through your neighbourhood (you might want to wear some reflective gear for this one - safety first!)
We've also created a short list of how we can work towards building a more sustainable future in our every day lives:
- Unplug your chargers when they're not being used.
- Plug your TV, DVD player, computer and other home electronics into a power centre or surge protector - this will make it easy to turn them off at night before going to sleep.
- Use a power monitor to show your current enerfy usage and costs.
How else do you guys save energy? And how do you plan to spend Earth Hour?
