Earth Hour

On Saturday, March 28th, 2009 at 8:30 pm local time Earth Hour arrives.

But what is Earth Hour? How is it different from Earth Day?

While Earth Day is about general environmental awareness, Earth Hour’s purpose is to inspire people to take action on climate change. It shows that by turning off non-essential lighting we can reduce electricity use and greenhouse gas emissions. Energy saved during Earth Hour 2008 was estimated from 2%-10% depending on sources (the equivalent of taking about 50,000 cars off the road for an hour). However, the event is not so much about direct energy savings as education and change. It’s a way to make people think about climate change and how they can make a difference.

Earth Hour started March 31st, 2007 in Sydney, Australia, when over two million people and two thousand businesses turned their lights off for one hour.

It went international in 2008 in over 400 cities worldwide. The 35 flagship cities included Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, and Vancouver. Every Canadian province and territory participated.

Earth Hour 2009

Earth Hour 2009 will be a half hour later to be more in line with astronomical twilight and daylight savings in North America. It’s hoped that more than one billion people around the world will turn their lights out. Participants will get the chance to see truly dark skies and better appreciate the impact of light pollution. Amateur astronomers will set up telescopes to show people the wonders of our night skies as they were meant to be seen. Find out more from the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC at www.rasc.org) and local newspapers.

How Can You Join In?

Once you’ve made the decision to participate in Earth Hour, your choice of what to do will depend on where you are. Will you be at camp? Get outside and go for a night hike; gather around a campfire to sing songs and tell stories.Will you be at your meeting place, providing a place for the community to come together? Do some advancepromotion before the date.Write to your local newspaper and tell them what you’re doing. Invite community leaders, parents, your sponsors. Make tin can lanterns to light the area, or beeswax candles to give away. With appropriate permission, fire up the barbecue for hot chocolate, tea and coffee. Organize an astronomy/stargazing event with your youth to take advantage of the darker skies.

Visit the Earth Hour web site (http://www.earthhour.org/) to register and receive more information.

YIS..LE

This article by David Gamey previously appeared in Scouting Life Magazine.