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?

Earth Hour Observed

We did a small bit for the environment today by observing Earth Hour. We turned off all the lights in the house, shut down the computers, then the whole family took an hour-long walk between 2000 and 2100 tonight. Most houses on the street in our suburb were dark, but a surprising number had their lights on, so it would say Earth Hour wasn't a total success.

We'll know over the next couple of days whether there was a significant reduction in power consumption this year. I remember that last year was quite significant, and it sent a strong message to John Howard that the Australian population in general wasn't as skeptical about climate change as he was.

I wonder whether Earth Hour does anything real and lasting or whether it is mere tokenism. I know that it raises awareness of climate change and what we could be doing to fight it, and that is no bad thing. But does it do anything more?