Earth Hour is here again – March 27, 8.30pm local time we’re encouraged to turn our power off for 60 minutes to ‘take a stand’ against climate change. But does it really make a difference?
Earth Hour began in 2007 in Sydney, Australia and was the brainchild of a couple of marketers who wanted to give ‘mums and dads’ something tangible to do to take a stand against global warming and feel like they were actually doing something. It has now taken off globally.
I’m the first to say it’s important we take a stand against man-made climate change, reduce pollution, live in harmony with gaia. But I wonder whether 60 minutes once a year does anything other than have people consider it for 60 minutes … once a year.
Isn’t our planet worth more than that? What about the other 525,540 minutes in the year?
Many people think Earth Hour actually makes a difference to climate change or global warming. But that was never the original intention. It was a marketing strategy to get people thinking about global warming by having them actually do something physical – like flicking a switch.
If it was so effective against global warming, then why aren’t we doing it every day? Taking just one hour every single day to turn off the power?
I also wonder whether the drain on the power stations when everyone collectively turns their power back on again doesn’t defeat the purpose of switching everything off in the first place. It’s kind of like starting your car – you use most fuel when you turn on the ignition.
I am certainly not saying don’t participate. But I am saying if you’re serious about doing something for the earth do something every day. Simple things. Tangible things. Say no to plastic bags and bottled water. Throw your rubbish in the bin. Use your car ashtray rather than dropping cigarette butts out your car window. Refuse products made from animal by-products (eg Tiger balm and shark fin soup).
Just be aware that turning off your power for 60 minutes once a year is a token gesture – that’s all – designed to raise awareness of the issue. If it gets you thinking about global warming, then that’s great and Earth Hour has done its job. Perhaps make sure when you’re sitting with your family around the candles or lantern that you discuss the issue to really make it worthwhile.
And if Earth Hour is something you like, why not do it every day – have a daily earth hour! Or switch to green energy.
Really make a difference on those other 525,540 minutes of the year.
Peace.
© Earth Goddess Wisdom – www.earthgoddesswisdom.com
Great post … Maybe an hour once a year isn’t much to make a mark but it creates awareness of what we should be doing. A token gesture is better than none I guess …
I see the fact that a national campaign has gone global in just a couple of years is evidence that people worldwide are supportive of acting against climate change.
There will always be who believe that global warming is either a lie or won’t affect them and will continue believing the earth’s resources are eternal. For the rest of us, Earth Hour is a way of publicly announcing our belief and most of the people I know that actively participate do take steps in other areas of their life – intalling solar panels, growing their own vegies to reduce their carbon footprint.
Hopefully, the continued growth and popularity of Earth Hour will illuminate those currently sitting in the darkness for misguided reasons.
I’m certainly not saying people aren’t supportive of acting against global warming (I prefer to use this term since climate change is inevitable in a constantly-evolving planet). What I am saying is that it’s important people don’t see this mass-marketed ‘gesture’ as all they should do.
We show our support every night – spending in excess of 8 hours with the power off … when we go to bed.
The intention of this post is to highlight that people should not think they are making a difference to global warming simply by switching their lights off for 60 minutes once a year. It was only ever meant to be an awareness-raising campaign – it was never meant to have a direct impact on global warming. Unfortunately the media has grabbed the wrong message and run with it focusing on ‘drain on power stations’ etc to highlight whether it has an impact or not. Which just perpetuates the myth.