I haven’t had much time to promote Earth Hour this year but that doesn’t mean that it’s slipped my mind.
Three years ago I was flying home from a business trip when I first heard about Earth Hour. Of course I was IN THE AIR during Earth Hour and couldn’t really help the cause much.
Last year I was able to share my first Earth Hour with so many people. I was able to teach my son’s Kindergarten class about Earth Hour; they even made posters and told their parents to turn off the lights. At home we actually spent about an hour and a half without electricity and it was a great teaching opportunity for my son. This whole year he’s been my little electricity guru…always urging people to turn off their lights. You can read about how we spent last Earth Hour on THIS post from last year.
But what about this year? This year I will be away from home with family. My parents, grandmother, aunts, uncles, cousins (and more) will all be celebrating each other at my SILs house a few hours from home. I emailed my SIL a few days ago and told her all about Earth Hour and what I would like to do (turn off all the lights during the party!). When I talked to her today she was super excited. She actually celebrated Earth Hour with her own son last year and was looking forward to doing it again this year! So the party is on…but the lights will be off.
Are you new to Earth Hour? Not quite sure what I’m talking about? Earth Hour is an annual event to celebrate and raise awareness of climate change and the impact that we ALL make on this planet. It’s simple really, if everyone on Earth made one small change (turning off lights, recycling, cloth diapers, etc) in their life to be more green we would make great progress to changing the world. If we all make the same small change at the same time…the message will be heard louder!
During Earth Hour, everyone is asked to turn off their lights (and TVs, computers, phones, etc) for one hour at 8:30pm local time. Entire cities have committed to turning off the lights for Earth Hour. Last year the Sydney Opera House went dark, the Eiffel Tower went dark, the Las Vegas strip went dark, and the Empire State building went dark…for one whole hour! It’s only one hour out of your entire year; can you make the commitment and join me and the thousands of others as we go dark?
Earth Hour is a great opportunity to teach our children many important lessons. By celebrating Earth Hour you will be teaching your child:
– that we can all disconnect from technology (yes, even from blogs and Twitter) and spend time together.
– that we need to be mindful of the amount of electricity that we all use each day.
– that we can hear the voice of God more clearly when we allow ourselves to be silent.
– that we can all make a difference…no matter how big or how small we might be.
– that if we all work together as a team, family, or community that our voices will be heard.
Tell me your story! Have you celebrated Earth Hour before? How will you be spending your hour in the dark? What will you be teaching your children?
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I absolutely LOVE your ideas on what we are teaching our kids – especially that we can hear the voice of God more clearly when we are silent 🙂 Beautiful my friend! Enjoy your time with the family!!
Perhaps it is time not only to turn out the lights for an hour but also for an hour-long global outcry by great numbers of people.
Many more people are going to have to speak out loudly, clearly and often about what is somehow true, as each of us sees what is real, so that the whole world can hear our voices. I do not believe that it is ever too late to do the right thing; but it is getting “late in the day” to make necessary changes away from soon to become patently unsustainable global human overproduction, overconsumption and overpopulation activities. Even though a colossal wreckage can be apprehended in the offing if silence prevails over speech-to-power, there is still enough daylight for us to see dimly that adequate space-time exists in which to move forward fast toward sustainability.