Earth Hour - March 29th 2008, 20:00hrs Local Time

It's approaching: only a few minutes to go for CET, another hour for London & Co.

Earth hour has just finished here in the uk...... sadly it seems i was the only person in my street participating....

reply to post by cosmicstorm

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I know how you feel...
Still, you did your bit. So it's not like you didn't make a difference.

reply to post by Animal

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Did you even read the posts or just skim through and assume? By doing what you did (turning out the lights and then back on) you actually USED and WASTED MORE energy!

What’s even more hypocritical is I bet half of you people drive cars and come Christmas time you will all cover your houses and trees in lots and lots of lights.

Mikey

Check out Google!! They turned out their lights too.

Well, yes... but, you know, I (a dutiful recycler and what-not since age ten ; )) actually understand the feeling.

In fact, I have more or less the same violent (if repressed) reaction whenever I see - or even imagine - choruses of children chanting about world peace (double "am I annoying" points if they are rhythmically swaying while doing it!), any type of peace pigeons pageantry, and - especially! - compunct declarations about any given atrocity "may it never happen again!" (while the atrocity of choice is, of course, going on as we speak).

I am an unabashed doer, come rain or sun (and have been made fun of many times for my "Quixotesque" attitude); and I couldn't really spend any amount of time with anyone who susbscribes to the "you can't change a thing" mentality; and of course I turned off even the little electricity I use for the hour today.

But I do see how "cosmetic" activism can be infuriating, nay, blood boiling.




[edit on 29-3-2008 by Vanitas]

OK, it's 2.50a, here in the UK and I am a little drunk i will admit. I went into town just after Earth hour and Guess what, I managed to do an hour without electricity because I got ready before 8!

In response to Mikey, YOU are the moronic person here who will do anything possible to sabotage a gesture of positivity to the future of civilization. DO NOT criticize anyone here for taking part because your ignorant attitude is merely your opinion and your justification is totally absurd. Siwtching on a few light bulbs is NOT going to use more energy than if they were left on for an hour. As an electronic engineer by trade I can be confident about that. Some people HAVE to drive a car for a living but do you HAVE to have all the lights on in your house when they are not really needed? Pollution from vehicles is a separate issue, household energy consumption is something that can be reduced by every single person without any excuse.

Also with regards to the statements about christmas lights.. well as an electrical engineer, my specific role is guess what, related to christmas lights. We are trying to push LED as much as possible and councils all over the UK are aware of energy efficiency and taking this on board, ALL christmas lights in the next few years will be LED using up to 70% less electricity.

MIKEY, if you are so against it, then that that is your perogative (sp) but please do your research first. You are the kind of person that this planet could do without and the kind of person I have the least respect for. Find something better to do.

[edit on 29-3-2008 by fiftyfifty]

My family turned our lights off. Several other homes in our neighboorhood did the same.

I was looking though and noticed that some people turned on ever single light possible which no matter what your opinion on climate change is, I think that is terribly low.

There are good people out there trying to do a good thing and make a difference and it infuriates me to see people acting this way.

Oh well, that's their electric bills...

reply to post by Mikey84

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Yes i did read through the other posts, but what exactly do you suggest one to do to help?.... im trying to set an example to my son who is only 7, so im not going to rant and rave about how useless this event was........ there is little the average person can do, as we are never in control...... i think it was a small step, but i think it made more people aware, which cant be a bad thing....

no i dont put up xmas lights, i dont send xmas cards, and im raising a child to be very aware of the consequences of our actions towards the planet, so if that makes me a moron, then im fine with that!

reply to post by Mikey84

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Like most people at home, I use incandescent, so so much for your over generalized drivel.

Also note it only uses more energy if the period of time is "short", which I am willing to bet is under an hour.

I point this all out to you not just to show you don't know what your talking about, I do it also to highlight the inanity of your argument against this action. Get a life.


[edit on 30-3-2008 by Animal]

[edit on 30-3-2008 by Animal]

reply to post by Animal

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thanks animal.... i love you for that!!!!!!!!

I believe there to be nothing wrong with the desire to conserve energy, or anything else for that matter, when it is practical and feasible to do so. If energy conservation were the true goal here however, then there are many more effective ways already proven to be a viable energy conservation method.

The problem, however, is that these methods have been either supressed or penalized by our Department of Energy and other corporations that, due to deregulation of the US electric industry in 2000 (en.wikipedia.org...), have found ways to turn a profit by using technology that they have patented. Look up the lithium ion series and parallel hybrid, hydrogen fuel injection, etc. Ultimately, we will be forced to pay through the nose for these technologies. Other technologies, such as non-polluting biomass and SEG which can produce inexpensive energy without suffering an impact in performance or efficiency, have been silenced and their creators rebuffed. There is a problem with individuals blindly taking action in events such as Earth Hour "because everyone else is, " and without conducting their own independent analysis as to WHY. Taking a misguided action has much more severe consequences than taking a well-thought out one.

"Yes, we have to divide up our time like that, between our politics and our equations. But to me our equations are far more important, for politics are only a matter of present concern. A mathematical equation stands forever." --Albert Einstein

reply to post by cosmicstorm

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not a problem, and thank you for caring. =)

Thank you to everyone who starred and flagged this. It seems that Earth hour was quite a success in that it was observed all around the world by thousands of households and businesses. Hopefully a large number of ATS members were part of the numbers. Awareness and publicity like this can only be a good thing!

Please continue this topic here for discussion on the results and the future of the yearly Earth Hour event...

Thanks