apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

We had friend over and played board games as well. Like you, we didn't feel the need to turn the lights back on for the rest of the evening.

Hmm, Earth Hour happened during the Kid's Choice Awards... I think we might have defeated the purpose of Earth Hour. :/

I sorted through old mail that needed to be filed away by candle light. Hugged the Earth and de-cluttered! Woohoo!

we delayed our earth hour slightly and did it starting at 9. We were preparing dinner around 8, and didn't want to loose part of a finger due to improper lighting.

But we had the same idea. instead we played clue, which seemed to be a perfect game to play by candle light. Added to the mysteriousness of the classic who done it (although we have the Simpsons version so you can't take it too seriously anytime...)

My husband I had a lovely earth hour. He played his acoustic guitar and we ate ice cream. It was quarter after nine when we realized earth hour was over but we kept the lights out because we were having such a nice time. We both have busy schedules and though we feel like we spend a good amount of time together, it felt like we were having quality time together- no computer, movies, distractions, etc. And candleligt is so flattering!

Earth hour is such a tremendous idea that I hope it continues, maybe even become a monthly thing!

We participated, but it sparked this discussion:

Let's say we turned out the lights every night and used candles instead. We use exclusively wind-generated electricity. Is it greener to use candles, given the amount of candles we'd need to do things like eat, bathe, read? Would it be greener if we used soy candles? Etc...

Any insights?

~Q

Um, candle light is way, way, way less energy efficient than incandescent light.

Dimming an incandescent bulb down to 1 candlepower would provide much greater energy savings :-)

I timed dinner for 5 minutes to 8 and enjoyed the candles. I bet there will be a boom of babies in 9 months time - candle light and no distractions = very romantic. (not me - I am waiting for grandchildren)

What an awesome thing! We truly enjoyed it. My 10 year old thought that it was the coolest thing to do. Sooo nice to eat by candlelight and to ultimately do something different!

My husband, the kids and I started out trying to play Battleship by candlight, but the kids kept complaining that they couldn't see the numbers and letters on the board clearly. So we scrapped that idea and told ghost stories instead. The hour ended up being extended by about 30 minutes, and it was so much fun that last night my daughter asked when the next eart hour will be. This might just become a weekly tradition in our home!

uh yeah, power usage actually went UP in my city.

sooo ashamed.

I was getting ready to go to the Black Party, does that count?

Cassidy06--

That is a crazy-sweet little story. I hope it does!

I was sick, so I turned off the heat, the lights the tv and watched episodes of The Office on hulu on my computer's battery.

I didn't participate in earth hour (I had 1 light and the tv on) and felt annoyed the next day when I told two friends (they asked) and they tried to make me feel bad. I live in an environmentally friendly way - I don't buy a lot of consumer goods, I recycle, I compost, I don't drive or travel, and I give to environmental groups. To me those things are more powerful then turning off lights for an hour. I would be happy to get behind an earth hour that was about changing social policy, regulations, and law and hiking the price of oil and non-renewable sources of energy.
That said, if it made people more aware of environmental issues it is a good thing - we just need to follow it up with next steps.

I don't think the idea of Earth Hour is bad, but if something is to be done, boycotting is not the answer. Yes, you can delete that undying email about how tomorrow no one will buy gasoline and then OPEC will be brought to its knees in 20min or something like that. I strongly recommend looking into the research done by the Rocky Mountain Institute (www.rmi.org). Effectively, they have (in my opinion) the solution, and not just (again, my opinion) showboating to get media coverage. It really is how simple many of the solutions are to our energy problems. Also see the book (which is free from RMI) called "Winning The Oil Endgame". Want to have a warm fuzzy about the environment: burn candles for a night. Want to make a real change for peace, prosperity and gobal climate health: listen to Amoury Lovins of RMI and demand that his suggestions be put into practice. Just my $0.02 :-)

Ours went off as planned - candlelight dinner then a piano concert & a play by the kids. We left the lights out after 9pm like many of you - the quiet and atmosphere was neat. Would love to do this more often.

I meditated by candel light for the hour.

I noticed the neighbors out on the porch - sitting and talking... Wow. This might be good for all of us - talking, playing games, communicating, meditating, music, love... We best do this on a regular basis...

Earth Hour: How Was It?

Ignored, thanks for asking.

it was great, we played a rousing game of 20 questions!!

i emailed 35 people the day before, got 2 responses, re turning off the lights for earth hour. the responses were from my boss, who was totally on board [WONDERFUL] and a friend in san francisco who said he had also done it last year. he said it was so beautiful to see the city lights go out as they watched, knowing the reason.

the lights are off at my house every night. sunset and sunrise are what we go by, period. we do use soy candles. it signals good sleep and melatonin production, by the way. try it one or two nights a week. it's so peaceful.

I went to a concert during Earth Hour (Hawksley Workman) up here in Winnipeg (Canada). The first 5 songs were performed without mics or amps and with 30 tealights illuminating the front of the stage. It was beautiful!

My city's energy usage went down 8.7%, which is a great start! My family and I made the mistake of playing UNO, and spent most of the time arguing about whether the cards were blue or green. ;-)