Earth Hour is really a good concept on how we could spend at least a few minutes of our time in remembering mother Eearth. people should be more aware and more caring of our environment now that we have Global Warming and Climate Change.
Not harm, per se, but rather the perception of the whole thing. I’ve seen a decent share of commercials abroad for Earth Hour, for example, and they all said something on the lines of “turn off your lights and save the world!” with no mention of promoting said other activities. No indication that it’s supposed to be symbolic, either, and I had to explain that a few times to people who (obviously) couldn’t see how one hour would save the world.
With the way the message came across so far as I saw it was another “oh, those crazy libs, look what they thought up now” thing. Which I really hate when it comes to the environment (can you really be con on this issue?) and why I’m suggesting there might be better ways to get the message out that are more constructive. My two cents anyway.
I understand the idea of the symbolism, what I don’t like is the fact that there are so many other activities you could promote that ACTUALLY do something. My two cents anyway.
The idea is to raise awareness of the issue, and to get people talking about it. (Then maybe thinking about it… maybe someone is going to look into CFLs now you mentioned them here, for example.) It is symbolic. Symbolic events with mass participation can be powerful starts for real action. If this were the _only_ thing people were doing, I’d agree with you, but as part of a balanced diet of activities… it’s great.
I went to a bar, which is what I would have done anyway. They were showing CNN International there briefly which had a green logo in honor of the night, which was nice and ironic.
Perhaps I’m cynical, but I don’t totally get the point of turning your lights off for one hour a year, as lights don’t really consume much energy compared to, say, air conditioning or your microwave. A day devoted to teaching people to, say, switch to CFLs or not leave lights on when you’re not using them would be more effective!
In the “American Dad” mode of my regular code-switching routine, I’m on little league parent duty. Big final Sunday game. Dodgers fielding… #littleleague
A couple of nights ago we went out again to photograph the #comet, which currently hangs for a good while in the early evening sky each night like a holiday decoration. A few seconds exposure on slightly better optics than the phone yields some nice results. #astronomy
Four nights late due to overcast #SantaBarbara skies, but the youngster and I went out a-hunting and got a very nice view of the #comet all the same. The massive full moon behind us helped dim further, but still great to see!!
In the “American Dad” mode of my regular code-switching routine, I’m on little league parent duty. Big final Sunday game. Dodgers fielding… #littleleague
A couple of nights ago we went out again to photograph the #comet, which currently hangs for a good while in the early evening sky each night like a holiday decoration. A few seconds exposure on slightly better optics than the phone yields some nice results. #astronomy
Four nights late due to overcast #SantaBarbara skies, but the youngster and I went out a-hunting and got a very nice view of the #comet all the same. The massive full moon behind us helped dim further, but still great to see!!
Earth Hour is really a good concept on how we could spend at least a few minutes of our time in remembering mother Eearth. people should be more aware and more caring of our environment now that we have Global Warming and Climate Change.
Not harm, per se, but rather the perception of the whole thing. I’ve seen a decent share of commercials abroad for Earth Hour, for example, and they all said something on the lines of “turn off your lights and save the world!” with no mention of promoting said other activities. No indication that it’s supposed to be symbolic, either, and I had to explain that a few times to people who (obviously) couldn’t see how one hour would save the world.
With the way the message came across so far as I saw it was another “oh, those crazy libs, look what they thought up now” thing. Which I really hate when it comes to the environment (can you really be con on this issue?) and why I’m suggesting there might be better ways to get the message out that are more constructive. My two cents anyway.
But those activities are being promoted *as well*, so where’s the harm? Why does doing the one exclude the other? I am puzzled by this.
-cvj
I understand the idea of the symbolism, what I don’t like is the fact that there are so many other activities you could promote that ACTUALLY do something. My two cents anyway.
The idea is to raise awareness of the issue, and to get people talking about it. (Then maybe thinking about it… maybe someone is going to look into CFLs now you mentioned them here, for example.) It is symbolic. Symbolic events with mass participation can be powerful starts for real action. If this were the _only_ thing people were doing, I’d agree with you, but as part of a balanced diet of activities… it’s great.
Cheers!
-cvj
I went to a bar, which is what I would have done anyway. They were showing CNN International there briefly which had a green logo in honor of the night, which was nice and ironic.
Perhaps I’m cynical, but I don’t totally get the point of turning your lights off for one hour a year, as lights don’t really consume much energy compared to, say, air conditioning or your microwave. A day devoted to teaching people to, say, switch to CFLs or not leave lights on when you’re not using them would be more effective!
Went to bed early (20.00 hours) – slept for eleven hours – and felt much better for it
We’re going to see what our town is doing.
Going to hang out at the events at LA Live, I think. Then hit a bar.
-cvj
My mother and I had a candlelit supper of risotto, and then we went out for short stroll. What are your plans?
–IP