Earth Hour -- are you doing it?

From the Sydney Morning Herald today. (Love the photograph of the unlit Golden Gate Bridge!):

Earth Hour goes global

http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2008/03/30/goldengatebridge_wideweb__470x294,0.jpg

The lights on the Golden Gate Bridge are turned off for Earth Hour.
Photo: AP

March 30, 2008 - 2:43PM

From the Sydney Opera House to Rome's Colosseum to the Sears Tower's famous antennas in Chicago, floodlit icons of civilisation went dark for Earth Hour, a worldwide campaign to highlight the threat of climate change.

The environmental group WWF urged governments, businesses and households to turn back to candle power for at least 60 minutes starting at 8pm on Saturday wherever they were.

The campaign began last year in Australia, and travelled this year from the South Pacific to Europe to North America in cadence with the setting of the sun.

"What's amazing is that it's transcending political boundaries and happening in places like China, Vietnam, Papua New Guinea,'' said Andy Ridley, executive director of Earth Hour. "It really seems to have resonated with anybody and everybody.'' ...<cont>

http://www.smh.com.au/news/earth-hour/earth-hour-goes-global/2008/03/30/1206815307576.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

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We've been using the spiral florescent bulbs, probably from when they first came out. Like what was said before, conservation is an ongoing thing. One hour does not make much of a difference, in the overall scheme of things. I would suppose though, that it is a nice idea for the kids.

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Well, I have to disagree with you, Phoenix. I find it very encouraging that so many people, all over the planet, switched off their lights as an expression of concern about climate change. Also as an expression of their desire to be part of the solution to the problem. It was not just about saving an hour's worth of energy costs. Most importantly it was about spreading an important message - part of the process of educating people. I find that rather inspiring, myself.

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ossobuco wrote:

Well, not that I see in the spiral bulbs one can buy.

<snip>

I'm pretty amazed this hasn't been fixed, even with, say, pinkyellowish glass...

You heard it here first. Should I win in court, I'll share with the a2kers I know.

Honest Ed's here has been carrying packages of mixed tinted/coloured spiral fluorescent bulbs for some time now. At least two years that I've noticed them. Pinkish, blueish, yellowy, green ...

~~~

fishin - stores here won't be able to sell incandescents shortly.

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msolga- Oh yes, I understand the intent. Personally, I don't believe in waste on any level, and that was before all the talk about global warming. Maybe I'm just a little too jaded to appreciate these public shows.

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I was a little surprised that there were so many naysayers at our house last night. We still did it, but the tv remained on for the NCAA tournament. I was afraid of a revolt if I insisted. Candles worked pretty well, but I still need to turn on a light now and again to navigate in the kitchen. We made it for 52 minutes until the lone tyke started to protest that she didn't like the dark.

Phoenix, I think we all agree that one hour won't save much energy in the long run, but what I got out of it, besides just the awareness aspect, was to realize how many lights we could get along without. We have CFL bulbs in all our fixtures, so we're already conserving. We could have gotten by with the light over the stove and one lamp in the living room though. I will try to remember that in the future.

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That's good, ehBeth.. at least they've been invented then.

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phoenix wrote :

Quote:

Personally, I don't believe in waste on any level, and that was before all the talk about global warming. Maybe I'm just a little too jaded to appreciate these public shows.

sure agree with you !

we still can't understand why shopping centres have to be heated to such an extent that one can't walk wearing winterclothes through the shopping centres here - everyone starts sweating or peeling within a few minutes ; in the summer they are too cold for shorts and short-sleevedd shirts - what gives ?

in the 50's i worked in the office of the local utility - b/a (before air-conditioning) . our boss came from south-africa and around june 15 he would start wearing knee-length shorts and short-sleeved shirts - that was the signal that it was o.k. for us guys to follow his trend .
a few years later i started working for an insurance company : long-sleeeved shirt , tie , jacket ... ... SWEAT , SWEAT , SWEAT .. ...
hbg

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From the Chicago Tribune:

Quote:

ComEd was still calculating Sunday how much in dollars the Earth Hour electric-light turnoff on Saturday cost the utility in decreased electricity usage.

But company officials figured that about 840,000 pounds of carbon dioxide were kept out of the air.

Spokesman Jeff Burdick made this comparison: It would take 104 acres of trees to absorb that amount of carbon dioxide over the time that Chicagoans and northern Illinois electric customers joined the 8-to-9 p.m. hour of darkness on Saturday.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-earthhourmar31,1,4600326.story

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earth hour 2010

8.30 pm 27/3/10

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@sozobe,

Quote:

Earth Hour -- are you doing it?

i do

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@ehBeth,

Ditto here.

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@dlowan,

enough ceremony let us do it

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I did it for an hour.

was it good for you?

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@dadpad,

I'm glad you did it dadpad. We'll be lights out here in roughly 13 hours.

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@Swimpy,

Us too! Thanks for the reminder.

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In honor of Earth Hour I will be setting fire to my home ------------ but sans propellant.

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Hmmm. 8:30PM tonight here in New York. (seems an odd time to start an hour, but hey..)

I already shut off any light not actually in use and I turn off the power to such things as the microwave and the TVs. (I don't need the clock on the microwave and I can do without the instant on feature on the TVs. -It take an extra six seconds for them to come on. wow.)

So I am going to shut down everything tonight. I might even unplug the fridge.

Joe(and if everyone lit just one little candle)Nation

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@Joe Nation,

Quote:

(seems an odd time to start an hour, but hey..)

I think thats a guesture to those of us who still have daylight saving in force. Its barely dark at 8.00 pm here

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@hamburger,

hamburger wrote:

we've been "greenies" - at least the way we see it - ever since we came to canada - and before : small car , small house , control the temperature ... ...
the one hour "lights out" isn't more than a gimmick imo .

That's the way I feel about it, too. We do all the "usual stuff" all year round, including recycling this, that, and the other.

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Earth Hour -- are you doing it?

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