Earth Hour. Who participated?

[faulkner132]

We shut off the main breaker in our house and used candles for an hour and a half.

[dumo-kun]

i would of done earth hour if i knew about it, haha. but i would be the only doing it in the house. my parents would give me the "huh" :confused: kinda face if i asked them to do it too.

[David M]

I had three computers in the house up and running at that time. My son was playing Crysis on one of them burning the watts with a couple 8800GTS's. I was in the back yard planting an herb and vegetable garden....I guess the garden counts for something?

Google went black for a while (black screen, white letters)...anyone see that?

I think many are getting burned out on the constant barrage of green this and green that. I am very much for the environment, I am just getting tired of constantly having to read and hear about it. Most of this information really speaks down to people as if they know something and I know nothing. If there is anyone left who has not read and heard all of this then they must be living in a cave.

The idea is noble, but I think stuff like Earth Hour ultimately accomplishes nothing. At this point it is irritating people more than it is educating them. People rebel when they feel they are being brainwashed or forced into something and the harder the green movement pushes people the more they are naturally going to push back. That is human nature.

[Lespaul20]

I didn't do anything. Unless you count doing 2 loads of laundry using the ultra concentrate which has a much smaller jug. I usually try to keep unnecessary light off but I do that because I want to save as much as possible which is to be green for another reason.

I agree with David about the whole "green" fad. I don't think a lot of people are going to change much after this. I think people are generally aware of the movement.

[Floppyman]

Green movement or not, trying to build a world with more sustainable energy sources and way of life is the future.

It doesn't take a PhD in Theoretical Mathematics to figure out that our current way of life is not sustainable in the the long term. No, I'm not saying we should all cry out that the end is near and live primitive again, far be it from that, but it's time to think hard and innovate so that our children, grandchildren, etc. will still be able to enjoy this planet as much as we do now.

Unfortunately, I don't believe Earth Hour and all these concerts accomplish too much either. I would much rather see our government invest more heavily into science and engineering research to drive innovation.

[Dave21]

I was sleeping at that time. I hope that counts.

[David M]

Green movement or not, trying to build a world with more sustainable energy sources and way of life is the future.

It doesn't take a PhD in Theoretical Mathematics to figure out that our current way of life is not sustainable in the the long term. No, I'm not saying we should all cry out that the end is fear and live primitive again, far be it from that, but it's time to think hard and innovate so that our children, grandchildren, etc. will still be able to enjoy this planet as much as we do now.

Unfortunately, I don't believe Earth Hour and all these concerts accomplish too much either. I would much rather see our government invest more heavily into science and engineering research to drive innovation.

Agreed Floppy...less propaganda, more science relating to sustainability.

[Statica]

We turned off everything at home and lit one candle.

[Strider]

I semi did Earth Hour, I didn't turn on the garage lights and family room lights that I normally do, but didn't shut off my computer(s) for I was using them. ;)

[doubledragon5]

I was busy burning up fuel while I was driving down the highway making deliveries all day.. At home we try to keep off all the lights and electronics when were not using them...

[HAL9000]

My wife and daughter know how to turn a light on, but are clueless on its operation in the opposite direction, so we probably wasted the efforts of the world by having every electrical item possible running that evening.

[Statica]

I try to reduce my carbon footprint as much as possible, what irritates me is seeing how quick companies have caught on in being able to prey on people with the environment-bogeyman.

It's getting quite irritating shopping at (especially, high end clothing) stores and being asked, rather pointedly, on buying a re-usable bag for $2! If these companies were that concerned about the environment maybe they should be providing those $2 bags for free and hope that it increased awareness and maybe encouraged people to reuse the bag. I know it's only $2, but the way I see it, I pay the company $2 to buy a logo-ed plastic bag and walk around giving them publicity? For all I know, the company that desperately wants $2 for the bag is also going to have a board thinking that maybe the straps ought to be weaker so that they cant be reused as much!

[David M]

Lets see, you are paying someone two bucks to walk around with their billboard? What could be better for a business? I too get the impression is has nothing to do with the environment.

[blue60007]

When was this Earth hour again?

[liambl]

My city officially participated in Earth Hour, all the restaurants in the city centre were lit by candle and most of the big buildings were entirely out, quite a sight. But I think all this global warming is a big load of bollocks. The earth has a cycle of ice and desert ages, and we are heading up the slope to a desert age. The reason for the increase in carbon dioxide in the air is parly due to the release of carbon in the polar ice caps where it was trapped last ice age. The governments are taking advantage of peoples uneducated perspective of global warming and using green taxes to extort even more cash. They are telling us to save power and use less fuel yet when we do that, the power and fuel companies will see that they are no longer making huge profits so they'll hike up prices.

[IntegraGSR]

I ran four instances of Prime95 of maximum consumption while playing my Wii on my 65" DLP screen while letting my car idle for no reason whatsoever.

Nah I think I was at work at the time

[juppy]

I didn't even know about it until a couple hours after it had already passed. When I got on the computer that night, I saw Google was black instead of white and saw their description of how 8 to 9 in the evening was this "Earth Hour" thing......it was already 10:45 here. During that hour, I was busy playing Monster Jam on my PS2. Oh well.

[piasabird]

I dont see why they dont do something on Earth Day on 22 April.

I dont see what the point is. If you go back to driving your gas gussling SUV every day you cant be too concerned about the environment. Everyone has to just try to do what they can. However, try to do something real and significant.

2 times last year once in the winter and once in the summer, My power went out and I was without power for at least a Week both times due to storms. Now that was real. It is one thing to be in the dark for an hour. Try doing without a refregerator, heater/Air conditioner, and lights, computers, Internet, Game consoles, and TV's for 7 - 10 days! It was rough.

[HAL9000]

That is something that I do have a tough time imagining here... a long power outage here is anything that hits an hour.

[juppy]

Try doing without a refregerator, heater/Air conditioner, and lights, computers, Internet, Game consoles, and TV's for 7 - 10 days! It was rough.We were without power for a little over a month when we had an ice storm back in like 2003 (I think....it's been awhile and I've slept since then :D ). Anyway, yeah, I agree....no fun at all. Sad part was that even two weeks into it, I'd find myself trying to flip the light switch when going into a dark room. :D

[Statica]

The last real power outage I went through was the one that affected all of the North East (OH-NY-ON.. remember, when you Americans kept blaming us Canucks but turns out the fault was incompetence in OH :)) .. I might've enjoyed it more had it not been when I was living in a high rise .. which meant that we didn't even have running water for a couple of days, and some annoying guy had a generator running through the night (not the noise so much as that he had a bulb lit up while I was in darkness) .. but on the bright side, walking up & down 18 floors was good exercise.

[rjfvillarosa]

Sorry guys, please don't shout at me but my first knowledge of Earth Hour was when I saw this thread....:o
I agree with Floppyman, turning off your electricity for an hour is a complete waste of time and effort, what is needed is research and answers to sustainable alternative fuels.
If any of you are readers do your self a favour and read "State of Fear" by Michael Crichton.
ISBN 0-06-621413-0 fiction with a lot of factual information.

[Force Flow]

First time I heard of this when I saw a news post about what google did to their search page after the fact.

oh well.


On another note, I agree...more funding for science, engineering, R&D, etc. Anything that helps improve what we have, improves efficiency, or goes to alternative fuel. After all, a good chunk of the economy here runs on coal and gas. Not exactly healthy in the long run, for the environment or the economy.

[piasabird]

Well you could attempt to use less energy. If the majority of people are buying the largest SUV on earth they can buy, then they cant really claim to be concerned about the environment. Same thing goes for those people who purchase the largest house they can buy. It takes energy to heat and cool it and light it up.

We can suggest alternate fuels but that will not happen any time soon. We could however, just force the auto industry to make smaller or lighter automobiles, or give people tax breaks for buying vehicles with better gas milage. I prefer inctentives instead of trying to punish corporation for making what they think we want to buy. It may be we also need to increase the the number of miles per gallon of the fleet that auto manufacturers are required to meet. The only problem is it takes a few years to reach such a goal. When people started buying all these large SUV's I thought they were all insane. So I have little pitty for the owner of giant $50,000.00 SUV that gets 15 miles per gallon. I think large SUV owners and anyone with a heavier automobile should have to pay more tax because their vehicle tears up the road at an accelerated rate. Weight does matter, and it damages the roadway more so they should be taxed appropriately to the size of their vehicle and the amount of emissions they make. We could also try to force, coerce, or offer incentives to the owners of older automobiles to get them off the road, instead of giving them a free ride and pollution control exceptions.

That runs into my other rant. I live in an area where the EPA has determined that I am required to get an emissions test. This is a complete waste of time as far as I am concerned. It is a total waste of taxpayers money and it does not make the air any cleaner. This is just harassment to car owners. It was a stupid idea and it is a waste of money. Money would be better spent improving the efficiency of automobiles.

Instead of forcing millions of people to get an auto emissions teste, it would be more economical to move all the factories to the east coast. (Joke) In the USA pollution flows generally from the west coast to the east coast. So any factory that makes more emissions should be placed on the East Coast. That will actually help to improve the Air we breath. This may not be that feasable, but it is something to consider. South korea uses policy similar to this to protect the fish and the Sea Grass that they use for food on their west coast. They appreciate their fishing industry enough to implement these kind of policies. They live on a peninsula so they can afford to do this.

[liambl]

I don't really see how turning out your lights helps reduce pollution, the power plants still produce the power so its more of a waste to not use it. And then when everyone turns everything on at the end of the hour there will be a big surge that could blow transformers and substations.

[HAL9000]

I won't go into detail for fear of being too political and then being forced to warn and or ban myself, but when it comes to SUV's and "conserviing energy", rent the show "Who killed the electric car"... is's bound to get you wound up and make your blood boil.

[Lespaul20]

I haven't watched that movie but I watched the preview. It seems like another one-side "documentary," which I don't like.

[HAL9000]

Well you have to watch it... there was opportunity for "the other side" to defend.. they essentially defended with no comment. They also give a good reason why you see a lot of people driving the SUV's.. If I were in a similar position, I would too and I wouldn't care about the gas prices either.

[Captn]

They also give a good reason why you see a lot of people driving the SUV's.. If I were in a similar position, I would too and I wouldn't care about the gas prices either.


Thats me! :D I love my SUV :p


I add oil to the gas tank of my lawn mower so its smokes to keep the bugs away. :p

[Floppyman]

Well you have to watch it... there was opportunity for "the other side" to defend.. they essentially defended with no comment. They also give a good reason why you see a lot of people driving the SUV's.. If I were in a similar position, I would too and I wouldn't care about the gas prices either.

And what's that reason, HAL? I haven't see the documentary, but would like too.

As for the people driving the SUV's....I'll refrain myself from saying more since this is PCM....so I'll just say enjoy it while you still can.

[HAL9000]

Take a look at tax incentives for purchasing a hybrid, then the tax incentive for purchasing a SUV over I think it was 6000 pounds... I don't remember the exact numbers, but if you are a person with some wealth looking for tax writeoffs, you could essentially get your SUV for free.

[David M]

Given only 20% of the United States energy usage goes towards private transportation, one can see how little effect it would have if everyone drove a hybrd.

Nuclear energy is what is needed. Pretty much all of France is powered by nuclear energy as are most of the larger naval ships and all the large submarines. Is France or the US Navy having problems with nuclear power? No. Has anyone died from nuclear energy recently? No. Have coal miners died recently? Yes.

In fact, coal puts more radioactive isotopes into the air than has ever been released by all the nuclear plants combined including Chernobyl and Three Mile Island.

Using food crops for evergy and land intended for food crops, will only serve to drive up the cost of food. Commodity prices for corn have hit record highs since we started producing ethanol. Has anyone noticed the price of beef over the past couple years?

Solar power is very expensive per watt and is only available during the day.

Public transportation only works where the population is dense enough such as in Europe and Japan. Europe's major population centers are not separated by 3000 miles with desert, mountains and plains...the same goes for Japan.

Wind power is downright ugly, only works when the wind is blowing, is noisy, kills birds and is also very expensive per watt.

I think the French have the right idea here.

[David M]

Take a look at tax incentives for purchasing a hybrid, then the tax incentive for purchasing a SUV over I think it was 6000 pounds... I don't remember the exact numbers, but if you are a person with some wealth looking for tax writeoffs, you could essentially get your SUV for free.

That applied to those with businesses who could use it as a business writeoff....not a writeoff as an individual.

SUV's do pay more in road taxes through state and federal taxes paid at the pump...as do commercial trucks who pay more per gallon in road taxes with the tax on diesel bing higher than that of gasoline combined with much higher usage that trucks have. Taxes paid is proportional to the energy used.

[HAL9000]

(Didn't I mention about bracing the universe against collapse in another thread as I agreed with David?)... I don't know why there hasn't been further development of nuclear energy. It does produce clean power, yes, there is nuclear waste, but that's what should be researched, how to make use of that and keep the cycle going... then my home province can jack up the price of Uranium as we hold 95% of the world supply.3

That applied to those with businesses who could use it as a business writeoff....not a writeoff as an individual.

Doesn't take much for an individual to become a business and do just that. There are many reasons to open a business and require purchases and show losses.

[David M]

(Didn't I mention about bracing the universe against collapse in another thread as I agreed with David?)...
Hell must have frozen over for a few minutes.

Doesn't take much for an individual to become a business and do just that. There are many reasons to open a business and require purchases and show losses.

In this country, the IRS requires that you eventually have to show a profit. I don't remember the time period but if you cannot eventually show a profit then you don't get the business deductions.

[HAL9000]

Profit doesn't need to be much though... I know many people doing this both in Canada and the US, there are many loopholes to work with.

[David M]

I say more power to them. If creating something to legally get around paying more taxes benefits them then good.

[HAL9000]

But having this kind of deduction is kind of counter productive to the so called "need" to "save" the environment and go "green".

[David M]

Then the carrot treatment is what is needed for hybrids...cut the taxes on them. Make them less expensive for everyone. Its too often the government uses the stick treatment by raising taxes on things they do not like. It's pretty obvious why they prefer the stick treatment.

[juppy]

Nuclear energy is what is needed. Pretty much all of France is powered by nuclear energy as are most of the larger naval ships and all the large submarines. Is France or the US Navy having problems with nuclear power? No. Has anyone died from nuclear energy recently? No. Have coal miners died recently? Yes.

In fact, coal puts more radioactive isotopes into the air than has ever been released by all the nuclear plants combined including Chernobyl and Three Mile Island.

Using food crops for evergy and land intended for food crops, will only serve to drive up the cost of food. Commodity prices for corn have hit record highs since we started producing ethanol. Has anyone noticed the price of beef over the past couple years?

Solar power is very expensive per watt and is only available during the day.

Public transportation only works where the population is dense enough such as in Europe and Japan. Europe's major population centers are not separated by 3000 miles with desert, mountains and plains...the same goes for Japan.

Wind power is downright ugly, only works when the wind is blowing, is noisy, kills birds and is also very expensive per watt.

I think the French have the right idea here.Well said, David, and I agree totally. I read an article on nuclear energy awhile back, and the main argument against using it was that the public was afraid to have the production plants built in their area because of the possibility of another Chernobyl.

Of all the "good" things that could come from nuclear energy, I thought these fears were rather stupid. I mean, there's that old saying, nothing ventured nothing gained. Life is all about "chances" and whether you take them or not. The people that fight against nuclear power plants just because of their fear of what might happen apparently don't think twice about just driving somewhere in their car, which holds a much greater risk of personal injury or death. So yeah, I'm with you, I don't see why nuclear energy isn't being more seriously persued as the "new" fuel and energy source.

[Captn]

.I'll refrain myself from saying more since this is PCM....so I'll just say enjoy it while you still can.

I'll enjoy it for many years to come, sorry that I don't agree with global warming. So I to will refrain from saying more since this is PCM.:rolleyes: :D

[faulkner132]

Regardless of whether you think global warming is hoax or some sort of extortion by the government, the fact is humanity is dependent on non-renewable and finite fossil fuels. Being blissfully wasteful is both ignorant and selfish as future generations will have to deal with the problems we are creating for them.

The point of Earth Hour was simply to make people aware that you can do little things, like switch off your lights when you are not in the room, and make a big difference. I don't see how you can fault or criticize anyone for conserving energy.

Over 2.2 million Sydney residents and over 2,100 businesses switched off [their lights], leading to a 10.2% energy reduction across the city [which is powered, primarily, by coal].

Nobody is asking you to drastically change your lifestyle, simply shut things off when not in use.

[Lespaul20]

Nobody is asking you to drastically change your lifestyle, simply shut things off when not in use.

I don't know about everybody else, but I've been taught that since grade school.

[Force Flow]

The point of Earth Hour was simply to make people aware that you can do little things, like switch off your lights when you are not in the room, and make a big difference. I don't see how you can fault or criticize anyone for conserving energy.

Nobody is asking you to drastically change your lifestyle, simply shut things off when not in use.

I think what some people don't realize is that it also has an effect on your electric bill by following a basic rule of thumb: if you leave the room, turn the light off.

Then again, some people don't really care in the first place...

[shadowpr]

I don't know about everybody else, but I've been taught that since grade school.


I'm with you on that.

[Jester]

honestly I am just a selfish american that wants a smaller electric bill. Thats why I turn things off. The only things running in my house when i go to sleep are the alarm clocks my cable modem and my router.

I am looking into the "smart" power strips so i can stop the leake and further reduce power consumption.

[Captn]

Regardless of whether you think global warming is hoax or some sort of extortion by the government, the fact is humanity is dependent on non-renewable and finite fossil fuels. Being blissfully wasteful is both ignorant and selfish as future generations will have to deal with the problems we are creating for them.

The point of Earth Hour was simply to make people aware that you can do little things, like switch off your lights when you are not in the room, and make a big difference. I don't see how you can fault or criticize anyone for conserving energy.



Nobody is asking you to drastically change your lifestyle, simply shut things off when not in use.


Do with what you will with your lights, but leave mine alone. Besides how would you know im um let me see how you put it, oh yea being blissfully wasteful? :rolleyes:

[juppy]

Do with what you will with your lights, but leave mine alone. Besides how would you know im um let me see how you put it, oh yea being blissfully wasteful? :rolleyes:He's been hiding in the bushes out in front of your house. And to think, all this time you just thought that was a big bunny. :p ;)