How Will You Celebrate Earth Hour?

World Wildlife Fund is inspired to raise awareness about climate change for the earth and its inhabitants. And they’ve found a powerful way to involve each and every one of us. It’s called Earth Hour. On Saturday, March 28^th 8:30 local time, the world will be shutting off the lights, TV, computer and any other non-essential gadgets and appliances that we usually have plugged into the grid. For one hour we can all power down electronically and power up consciously.

“What’s the big deal”, you might ask. The World Wildlife Fund acknowledges that Earth Hour is not going to save the planet. It’s a symbolic event to raise awareness. Participating in last year’s Earth Hour had a lot of impact for me. As I went around my home with kids in tow, turning off and unplugging to prepare for an hour without power, our family became more aware of how far our reliance on electricity really goes. We, like so many others, have the privilege of being able to access electricity at the flick of a switch, and that can lead to taking something so powerful for granted. So, the big deal about Earth Hour is really about how making a small change can have a big impact on our awareness.

One hour. That’s pretty small. The amazing thing is that one hour multiplied by 10 million (that’s how many people in Canada alone participated last year) easily turns into something pretty big.

So what is one to do with an hour in the dark?

Good question! Our candle lit hour was spent listening to the observations of a seven year old. There was no need to plan a thing. Her comments about electricity and questions about the sounds of the house (now audible without the background noise of the TV) made for a memorable and enlightening experience. Of course there are lots of ways to spend the hour like:

• taking a soak and splash during a candle lit bath
• organizing a jam session – singing acapella or with acoustic accompaniment
• hosting a pot luck party in the dark with foods that require no heating
• enjoying the silence and stillness and just being – what a nice change of pace
  
  

As the hour drew to a close, I remember feeling a bit sad. The hour in the dark brought us together around that single candle. We re-focused, we relaxed, we laughed. Did it take a world wide initiative to remind us that powering down could be such a good idea? Guess so. One simple little act with an immeasurable impact.

Enjoy your Earth Hour in whatever way you choose to celebrate it.