Go to www.earthhour.org. First year was 2007, when about 2.2 million folks in Sydney switched off their lights for an hour, then 2008 saw 50 million switching off their lights. This year the goal is one billion. I think there are only about 8 billion people in the world, so a figure of one billion people being aware of Earth Hour is rather impressive.

Earth Hour is not some small gesture. When the lights go out in the Sydney Opera House and the Golden Gate Bridge...and in 74 countries around the world...it's an environmental statement that can't be overlooked. I am wondering how much more energy efficent the builder homes constructed in the last five years would be if they were constructed in the next five years.

Thanks for reminding us. I will turn my lights out, definitely! But can I leave my TV on?

I think Earth Hour is a bunch of baloney - as is Global Warming . . . We may turn on every light we pay for the use of, if we think about it. (Yes, I do go rabid on the Global Warming subject.)

No need to insult someone just because their views are different from yours. That's what makes life interesting. Barb is a respected member of this group and is entitled to her opinion just like anyone else.

Thanks, FL Agent! If you had asked "why" I feel this way, SellsMdHomes, I would have taken it to pm and explained. You don't have to agree with me.

"I think Earth Hour is a bunch of baloney - as is Global Warming"

I don't think the global warming debate is as important as cleaning up our environment and conserve and utilize our natural resources with less waste.

Well, I turned on 22 lights, 5 tvs, the dishwasher, the washing machine, and since we were both doing BPOs we had 2 computers up 'n running. It was almost impossible to leave those lights on for an hour -- I'm the one who's always saying, "If you're not going to be in there, please turn off the light & the tv!" to the rest of the family & son's friends who are hanging around.

Totally agree with you, Pikes Peak -- we reuse, use up, use less, and recycle everything we can around here.

I am looking forward to finding some kind of a re-cap of the exercise to see how successful it was judged to be.

If I had been home at the time Barb I would have been right there with you. We were at a friend's house in downtown San Jose CA where it did not appear that the nightlife or the lights of downtown was affected at all by "Earth Hour" I'm pretty sure we drove right by San Jose City hall during that hour with their lights a blazin.

I have to say, I have my doubts about the effectiveness of Earth Hour. It is clearly more of a symbolic gesture as the overall savings for the hour are minimal at best (not to mention the carbon released in burning of candles and many other factors). It prime goal is not to reduce the impact from one day as people seem to think. It is to bring awareness.

While I think it is important to bring awareness to global environmental issues, I have my doubts about a campaign where people will overconsume prior and preceeding it. If it is encouraging people to go out and purchase gimmicky darkness novelties or adding extra waste through its promotion and marketing, it can hardly be called a success. I like the idea though, and hope that people will see past the campaign to the real point: As humans we are wasteful, and that needs to change.

I think that separating environmental issues from the global warming issue is important if you want to get people on board. People can try to deny global warming all they want, but if you can show them the savings or other sensibilities, I think we will have more success. If we continue wasting in the manner we are, we will have no planet left-- not because of global warming, but because of resource wars and environmental devastation that will make our planet toxic to us. Our current consumption levels are disgusting and incredibly damaging to the rest of the world. They are causing wars and death all over the place, all so we can live in luxury. That's ridiculous in my opinion, and it has nothing to do with global warming or even environmental issues. It's all related. We are wasteful all over the place.

Think of your parent's and grandparent's way of life. Did they save the things they used? Did they use them wisely? How much do you throw out that is perfectly useful? How much stuff do you have that you never even use? Energy and electricity are just one of the ways we waste.

I find it unfortunate that some people think that it would be comical or even advantageous to turn on extra lights and appliances as a form of protest. What did you accomplish by doing this? Who even noticed? What was the point? I just don't get it.

That's funny- I was thinking the same thing about all the people who sat in the dark for an hour.

While I've already stated my opinions above on what I think the point was, and what it really accomplishes; it definitely was noticed worldwide.

Perhaps it wasn't as big in the US as elsewhere (which can be expected), but there were at least 100,000 Canadians signed up online alone to participate and millions more expected and polled to be participating in Canada. And I read something in the realm of 58% of adult Austrailians participated... Worldwide, hundreds of millions of people participated. I'd say quite a few people noticed.

SellsMDHomes post was removed for personal attack.

Here is an interesting POV on it:

http://skepticssa.wordpress.com/2008/03/31/earth-hour-stupidity/

Thanks, Perky! That's a good link.

Really got a kick out of the square wheel on that tricycle.

What's interesting about it is that the author is not a right-wing GW Bush loving "dolt" - as many people like to categorize people who are not on board with the Earth Hour thing. It's a person who is very much concerned about climate change/global warming, and I'll bet he's even a democrat to boot.

I saw other blogs that had charts showing that there was no change in energy used, no change whatsoever, in California during Earth Hour.

I liken Earth Hour to those "Gas Outs" people want you to participate in to "drive gas prices down." The executives sit back and laugh, knowing full well that sooner or later the gas is going to be purchased, whether it's tomorrow or the day after, makes no difference - we're going to use it, so a single day "Gas Out" is really pointless.

I already do what I can to conserve energy and reduce waste - I don't need some goofy "Earth Hour" to raise my awareness of it. :p

It's interesting how you bring up the categorization of the issue according to political belief (republican vs. democrat). So true. That so often seems the case, or it is portrayed that way in the media.
The opposite seems to be true as well. People assume that if you care about environmental issues that you must be some hard-core tree-hugging leftist (democrat or liberal).
I don't see it that way personally. I find people assume my politics based on the fact that I write a lot about sustainability or environmental issues. Most of them couldn't be further from reality as my politics are entirely independent of my environmental beliefs. People also automatically assume I will be on board for any "eco" project they have, and this is just not true. I see a lot of flaws in many of these projects. If it makes no sense or isn't efficient-- I will not endorse it just because it has an "eco" or "green" label on it. I think that Earth Hour may have actually caused more pollution than it saved overall-- which is definitely a negative. But I like the idea of getting awareness out and starting a dialogue on the subject, which it definitely has done.
I really hate how it has solidified this way in the last couple of years. Just because you see flaws in one system or the benefits of another does not automatically categorize your politics or assume that you are on board for everything else in the categorization. Thanks for bringing that up Perky. An important point.

[quote=RC21] Just because you see flaws in one system or the benefits of another does not automatically categorize your politics or assume that you are on board for everything else in the categorization. Thanks for bringing that up Perky. An important point.
[/quote]

I agree, people may agree or disagree on individual issues, but have many of the same philosophies.

As RC21 stated, Earth Hour was symbolic. It is just another way of drawing attention to our environment's problems and showing support for working toward a solution. Earth Day...that is another matter altogether. Earth Day has made a major impact on spreading the word. I'm expecting next week to have a lot of Earth Day activity in the retail segment, similar to President's Day or Labor Day...that kind of thing. We should take all the help we can get to spread the word.

Regarding politics...RC21 again stated the logical...wanting to save Mother Earth doesn't give away your political party or lack of one. Saving Mother Earth is supported by people in all parties...you can see them coming together more and more. Which reminds me...we need a political analyst on here to keep up with legislation.

One more point...some of those jumping on the Eco bandwagon to benefit their pocketbooks may include some of our own, taking the "quickie" Eco courses and calling themselves fancy titles meaning "environmentally friendly real estate agents" when they truly have no personal habits that reflect that attitude. I hope this group is very, very small.

I guess it's safe to say that tons of things have been going on in the background to help the environment while Americans have been watching reality shows and visiting Vegas. It's going to take some noise to convert everyone. I'm happy this group cares enough to come onto this forum and post.

Today I met a young man who has decided to turn his love for organic gardening into a livlihood...with his in-laws supporting his decision. He won't be rich, but the compost he makes is very rich. He said he was actively looking for an "old hippy" to help him learn more about community gardening. I'll bet there is an old hippy out there who never thought his talents would be appreciated this late in life. This young man is a product of his school taking Earth Day and running with it. The next generation will be brought up being taught to respect the environment. So things will continue to get better.