Saturday 28 March 2009

Earth Hour Observed (2009)

Just like last year, we observed Earth Hour again, this time on Saturday night (28 March, 2009). We switched off all lights and shut down the computers, then took an hour-long walk from 2030 to 2130.

Again, like last year, we noticed that many houses along the streets we saw did not turn off their lights, so it wasn't a total success.

My question remains - how much does this really do for the environment? At what point does tokenism translate to tangible impact?

2 comments:

Ram Veeraraghavan said...

I myself was in a carnatic music concert. Couldn't switch off while the concert was going...

You are right, I wonder myself what impact it had.

Not sure whether this would help,

http://www.earthhourau.org/post-16524240555188081

Unknown said...

Not much. The only point is the hope that some young mind gets inspired and does something significant. But that is only a hope and we may not have the luxury of the gestation period for it to come to fruition.

It reminds me of another tokenism, recycling. Has it helped avert the greatest environmental catastrophe we are facing today? IMHO, more than anything else it helped clear the conscience of many affluent individuals who might have done something more meaningful than just toss their empty water bottles into color-coded trash cans if this release valve were not provided.