Earth Hour - let's do it!!

Turn out. Take action.

Be part of this historic event.
March 28, 2009, 8:30 pm local time

World Wildlife Fund is asking individuals, businesses, governments and organizations around the world to turn off their lights for one hour – Earth Hour – to make a global statement of concern about climate change and to demonstrate commitment to finding solutions. (source:  Earth Hour)

Help your kids get involved, go to the Earth Hour Kids site to learn and play.

Ove the last few weeks I've bee trying to figure out what we, as a family, plan to do in the one hour of darkness.  All this thinking has made me realize how much we realy on electricity, even as a form of entertainment (TV or not TV).  We are so dependant on having power that it was difficult to come up with other options and for goodness sake, it's just one hour.

Here are some ideas I've proposed to the family:

1.  Play board games-- too dark? We have candles.  We have this new game called Settlers of Catan which my son says it's really cool, kind of like monopoly but better he says...we'll soon find out.

2. Go for a walk.

3. Go star gazing - kids love looking at the sky.

4. Play sherades

5.  Talk...yes, converse with one another, have a diaglogue,  imagine that!!

Here is a list suggested by the Earth Hour Team:

1. Enjoy a romantic candlelit dinner with someone special using organic or sustainably grown food items.

2. Invite friends and family over for a “lights-out” party and serve green-themed snacks and drinks—green tea or apple martinis anyone?

3. Turn off the lights and power down the computer and cell phone. Use the quiet time to take a break from a “plugged-in” world by meditating or resting.

4. Take a bubble bath by candlelight.

5. Use the hour for practical tasks that you never seem to have time for. Test essential items in your emergency preparedness kit like flashlights, radios, and cell phones. Change out all your light bulbs to energy-efficient CFLs. Change the batteries in your smoke detectors. Think about how you would evacuate your house in an emergency in the dark.

6. Read a book set in an era without electricity. Marvel that the Romans conquered much of the world without a single cell phone and that Shakespeare wrote masterpieces without a laptop or the Internet.

7. Turn off the computer and write a letter by candlelight the old-fashioned way using pen and paper.

8. Invite friends over to play charades or Scrabble by candlelight.

9. View the night sky via telescope--the reduced “light pollution” may make some stars more visible.

10. Take photos of how you spent Earth Hour and upload them to the Earth Hour pages on Facebook, Myspace and YouTube. Keep it clean please!

Join us during this event.  Post a comment and tell us what you plan to do or just do it and come back and share what you did.  I think it would be fun to see some of the ideas that come around. 

Let's do it, Let's turn it off!

Earth Hour- let's flip the switch together

On March 28, 2009 at 8:30 p.m., local time, World Wildlife Fund is asking individuals, businesses, governments and organizations around the world to turn off their lights for one hour -- Earth Hour -- to make a global statement of concern about climate change and to demonstrate their commitment to finding solutions. Turn out. Take action. Be part of this historic event. 

Excitement is building all over the US and around the world. Here's a quick update on what's developed this week for Earth Hour:

• More cities turning out: Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, New York, San Francisco, St. Louis and the Village of Homer Glen, Illinois. We've heard rumblings from Houston and Seattle as well and would also love to get Washington, DC on board. If you're a DC resident, let Mayor Fenty know you want the city to turn out!

• Help us turn out the lights on the US Capitol Dome—write to your Senators or Member of Congress.

• What goes on in Vegas doesn't always stay there: Earth Hour officially launched in Sin City at a press event featuring a Panda Bear and Vegas showgirls. The Strip will indeed go dark for the full 60 minutes—the only time the lights have been dimmed except briefly in 1998 in honor of Frank Sinatra's death.

• Other city news: Chicago held its official launch event last week, with Mayor Daley again pledging his support. Next up? Nashville, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Dallas!

• The city of lights goes dark: Paris and 27 other French cities announced they'll take part in Earth Hour, with the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame going dark. A total of 405 cities in 74 countries have pledged to participate—double the number of countries from last year.

• Download a very cool Shepard Fairey poster: The famed Obama-portrait artist has created a series of "Vote Earth" posters urging people to turn off their lights during Earth Hour. Available at www.earthhourUS.org in either the tools or media section.

• EH for kids, too: In addition to creating teaching guides for K-12 students, we've also created a special section of the website just for young people. Check it out at www.earthourkids.org, where there's information about how students can promote Earth Hour at their school or within their community.

• And don't forget to mark your calendar...Earth Hour is March 28, 2009, at 8:30 pm. Turn out. Take action.

Source:  http://www.worldwildlife.org/