March 26th, 2011 at 8:30pm, Earth Hour begins. For one hour people around the world are encouraged to turn off their lights and other non-essential electrical items. It is a symbolic gesture to enlighten people to ways of saving energy.
There will be cynics that will say that the energy saved in that one hour is negligible. It is true that if done for only one hour it is a small saving in energy. The point that they miss is that it shows people how they can continue to save energy throughout the rest of the year. If you can go with no lights, no TV, no computer or no video games for an hour, then you can probably continue to leave less lights on and turn the TV and computer off when you are not actually using them for the rest of the year. That would add up to a good energy savings.
Additionally, it is to re-focus people on the costs of using so much energy. Not just the monetary costs, which are high, but the cost to the environment with pollution and green house gas emissions. These are important issues that many people are aware off but tend to forget about when going about their daily lives.
Finally, it is fun. It is really cool to sit in the dark, perhaps by candle light, on your own or with friends and family. A time when you can actually talk to each other without distractions. A time to look at a city in the dark. A time to see the night as it actually is. (although cities will likely keep street lights on for safety)
For those that remember the great blackout in August 2003, you will remember being able to look up and actually see stars from the city. It was amazing. Perhaps we should do this more often.
I'm looking forward to Earth Hour. I will be turning off my lights. Will you?
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