Earth Hour

Earth Hour was held on 27th of March 2010. It is an hour where everyone is urged to switch off electricity to all non-essential things like lights in support of saving Earth and environment. It has generally been described as a success by organizers and public.

Success or failure?

Success? I say bullshit. Symbolically, switching off the lights everywhere for an hour sends a powerful message. However, how many of the people who participate actually mean it? Plenty, i'm sure but most simply see it as a cool thing to do. A drop in electricity consumption for an hour does nothing to make up for years of wastage. Moreover, most are blasting lights and air-conditioning to the max immediately before and after Earth Hour. "Earth Hour Makes A Change"? Nah.

Another negative trend about Earth Hour is Earth Hour parties. They party in the dark, blasting music and guzzling drinks 'in support of mother nature'. I'm sure they really care. They arrive in petrol-guzzling/fume-emitting cars and throw away thousands of paper cups. Heck, they say the paper cups are recycled so they are not endangering the environment. Better not to use in the first place, eh? The amount of extra wastage and emissions during Earth Hour and the rest of the day probably offsets any gains made by lowering electricity consumption for that hour.

Earth Hour was started with good intentions and I commend the organizers but perhaps it can never be truly effective until everyone truly knows what it means and symbolizes.