Earth Hour - Pointless feel-good stuff ?

[Wavytone]

Yes it's on again - 27th March, they want people to turn out the lights for a whole whopping 1 hour at 8:30 pm, just once this year. Oh what a difference that will make.

If these morons were serious about actually doing something with any real impact they should be pushing for all external lights including streetlights, landmarks and office blocks to be turned off at midnight to dawn, EVERY NIGHT.

And we might even be able to see the night sky.

Thoughts ?

[supernova1965]

Warning Warning Danger Will Robinson

[AstralTraveller]

As to the net effect, I completely agree. But this is a consciousness-raising event. It does no more immediate good than planting a couple of trees in the local park does for conserving old-growth forests but it might make people change the way they think. Changing attitudes and behaviour takes repeated re-enforcing of messages and patience.

I don't think any of my neighbours have previously participated but I'll be interested to see what happens this year.

[Doug]

Oh, for a gram of your optimism:(
I agree with you, but once a year won't do much good I fear. Why not reach for the sky:question: and promote once a month lights out, and campaign for local councils and sporting bodies to put skyward light baffles on those monstrous lighting towers. Surely a lot could be done in this area, and it would do good things for the coal usage quotas....
Rudd, my invoice for $30m consultation fees is in the mail:D

[Nightshift]

Absolute bunkum, someone's making money out of it somewhere, now if they made councils all over the world turn off all street lights at 10:00pm we'd be achieving something, including astronomy.

[Waxing_Gibbous]

If everyone on Earth hasn't been bilked...er...I mean had their 'conciousness raised' by now, nothing like "freeze-your-bum-off-in-the-dark-with-no-telly-hour" is going to do it.
Do something concrete if you feel you have to: walk to work or take public transport. Make the kids walk home from school. Better yet, hold all government departments and officials to the same eco-nazi standards they want to hold us.

[TrevorW]

It's all about production

power plants operate 24hrs per day at night they generate unused power which has to go somewhere (it can't be stored) so councils being Govt support another Govt dept by buying cheap power thinking they are doing us the favour by having street lights on all night

so what happens theres a storm and a lot of houses in Perth where without power for more than a day

[iceman]

Why is everyone so negative about it? See the 'bright' side :)

[Peter Ward]

To quote a very good friend of mine (in Los Angeles) when the last big quake hit there.

Massive power outages. Nearly all streetlights were out.

"OMG...you should have seen the stars!"

Seems a pity mother nature needs to show us from time to time what's real.

[citivolus]

One thing that impressed me about Beijing was that office towers and lights on commercial signage were powered off at night by about 23:00. I wish that other countries would pick up on that.

Sure the smoke from the residential neighbourhoods still prevented you from seeing sky, but every bit helps.

[Nesti]

"Oh the pain-the pain" :D

[Nesti]

Dude, there is no bright side...the lights get turned OFF remember! :lol:

[freespace]

Not quite. When I visited a hydro plant near Canberra as part of first year electrical engineering, one of the things they do do is to buy power when it is cheap, pump water up the dams, and then use it to generate power during peak times then sell it back on the energy market. So unused power can be stored.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pumped-storage_hydroelectricity

Regarding earth hour - take a look at Cleanup Australia day. Same kind of thing. You can even argue it is also a conspiracy whereby councils save on cleanup fees by duping their constituents into doing it for free :)

[Wavytone]

Cleanup Australia has actually had an amazing effect as the oldies here will well remember. Thankfully the rubbish ruining the countryside in former decades is now 99.9% removed, and the attitude of most people has changed for the better.

The trouble with Earth Hour is that it's phoney - in that a bunch of people think this is a significant contribution, when its not even a drop in the ocean of our energy consumption.

[freespace]

Can't one say the same about Cleanup Australia? :P A bunch of people think it is a significant contribution when it is not even a drop in the ocean of the rubbish we create...

Maybe we will look back when we are "oldies" and say the same thing about Earth Hour...

[phranticsnr]

Except that if all the streetlights went out at 10pm every night, violent crime would be up 200%. Everywhere. Immediately.

[supernova1965]

I agree but I think you are fighting a losing battle with this one positivity seems greatly lacking in discussions here when it comes to changing the world for the better I think many find it easier to be negitive than to be positive in thought and action.

[duncan]

Hi All,

"IF" we could get all lights turned off at the same time over the entire dark side of the globe, i wonder how much of a "Dimming Signal" it might send into space? "IF" a more advanced civilisation were looking could they possibly detect it? Or is this pure fantasy! Food for thought.

My 2cents worth
Cheers

[OneOfOne]

I don't think Earth Hour is actually targetted at making any difference to the night sky, it is just an awareness thing. You only have to drive into the city any night to see just how many office blocks are lit up. The amount of wasted energy must be huge. Perhaps street lighting could be turned down to half lighting? This would have to make a dramatic effect on energy consumption. Overall though, I think the exercise is nothing more than "touchy feely"....someone will feel good about doing something, but in the big scheme of life I won't make one iota of difference :( A number of people in our street still leave outdoor lights on, just in case someone comes to the door (at 2am?) or in case their is a burglar out there (at least he won't trip). I am sure a lot also have lights on in empty rooms (in case they need to go in there, or they are frady cats who are scared of the dark).

As for Cleanup Australia, this is a great idea. Rubbish is an accumulation problem, if you clear all of the rubbish in one area it may be several years before it gets back to the same state, if you didn't clean it up, it would continue to get worse as it doesn't reach a saturation point and then cease to get worse.

[anthony2302749]

Hi
Did anyone notice it is nearly a full moon on the 27th of March, what a happy coincidences.

[h0ughy]

yep its nearly a full moon! ;)

[bojan]

I do not believe so..
Thieves and criminals need light as well for their night business, right?
It is just that we (people) feel safer in illuminated areas.. pure physiological issue, nothing else.

I would like to see some harder evidence for the statement above.

BTW, in total darkness it is much easier to spot torches etc.. so crime may go down actually (because it is easier to spot any unusual behaviour). Unless thieves are using IR equipment ??

[GrampianStars]

Should be re-badged as
"Back to the Stone Age Hour :thumbsup:
Complete with wearing Animal Skins, brandishing Wood Clubs, and open pit Campfires :rofl:

[AstralTraveller]

This is a blurb I just received from our Environmental & Sustainability Initiatives Unit. I think a 9% drop is significant but, as they say, it should be all the time!

-------------------------------

Well we are well and truly into the last 48 hours of rallying for Earth Hour. Earth Hour is about creating awareness and in particular we want Earth Hour 2010 at UOW to be about switching things off.

Champions, we need you to chat with staff, make the pledge and check things are off in your building. From Monday 29th we will start running the building by building reports to look at how energy consumptions changed, and stack up the behavioural reports on what each areas did to participate.

Further, please remember UOW measure this over the whole weekend not just that one hour so we can learn more about our typical weekend energy behaviour. The goal of Earth Hour for the ESI team is to better understand the energy baseload over a weekend, better understand the barriers that exist for staff and students in terms of switching things off .

Last year we ditched 9% of our energy usages purely by changing the behaviour of people when they left on Friday. We have not seen that type of saving again since March 2009. In March 2010 we not only need to crack the 9% but ESI also need to learn how to move us closer to reducing that amount of energy every weekend.

Ultimately….does one weekend per year make an energy difference ?– arguably no. The difference that weekend makes is about awareness, education and the possibilities that exist with action. It’s about looking at the bigger picture.

Please make sure you are considering the bigger picture on Friday afternoon and switch something off. From there ESI will use the behavioural information and energy data we get to look at how we make energy saving behaviour, simple, actionable and sustainable.

Earth Hour shows us what is possible - Earth Hour is an opportunity to set a target. So, we are asking everyone to show us what is possible.

[Paul Haese]

I am with you Wavy, this is largely a pointless exercise that does nothing really. Most of the real carbon emissions foir this particular exercise are derived from street lighting which is left on because councils are scared witless of being sued. Buildings in cities are left well lit and as a result nothing really happens.

Earth hour, lucky we really are not in dire need to reduce emissions (yeah yeah I don't believe that carbon emissions are resulting in real climate change).

[TrevorW]

Statistacally incorrect more robberies happen during daylight (google it)

now wouldn't it be easier to target graffiti artists instead of lighting targets for them they would have to bring their own light making them easier to target

[Jen]

:thumbsup::thumbsup: Yes i totally agree that would be great ;)
And 8:30 is too early anyway its still quite light then grrrr :rolleyes:

[michaellxv]

Is it ok to burn candles during earth hour? :scared3:

[AstralTraveller]

:rofl::rofl:

I can see where this is headed - do you produce more CO2 with the candles or the lights??

Well, we've usually used the tilly lantern (burns kero) so _I_ won't critise.

[Octane]

For Earth Hour, I have a very special treat planned.

I'm going to turn both the air conditioner and heater on full and let them battle it out.

H

[Waxing_Gibbous]

:lol::lol::lol:

[DavidU]

:lol::lol::lol:

[michaellxv]

:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:



That takes the cake. You win.

[AstralTraveller]

Your fuses will be the loser. :P

[Ric]

It's Earth hour all the time at my place.

Every bit counts in my mind and it does make a difference when the electricity bill arrives.

[wanglese]

This would be the same electricity bill that is going to increase by 64% because the state government (NSW if you are here) isn't making enough profit from electricity consumption because we aren't using enough of it?

Rock. Meet hard place :P:P:P

[supernova1965]

I am pretty sure that electricity was privatised so the government doesn't make money directly from its sale thats how it is in QLD and I think it is the same in all states of australia. And the price rise is more to do with the reliance of non renewable energy sources.:)

[TheDecepticon]

I believe studies have shown that crime, violent or otherwise, usually happens in poorly lit or poor used lighting areas. Crooks need light to perform there dastardly deeds. It is pretty hard to do so much of their stuff in the dark, if you think about it, unless you are Riddick.:D

[Ric]

EEEK :eyepop: I haven't heard about that one. Might be time to have another look at solar power for the farm.

Cheers

[Paul Haese]

If Earth hour was a serious venture then lights would be shut down after 1am in suburban districts and 3am in city streets. If the governments took this seriously then it would fund alternative electrical sources so that the main stream coal fired energy production can be eliminated. Instead it just keeps the status quo as is and does absolutely nothing. Talk of clean coal and yet we have more sun on average than many other countries. Yep Earth hour is just lip service to keep the greens appeased.

Even if we are not responsible for climate change (which I whole heartly now believe) the reduction of pollution by using renewable resources has got to help the environment in general. This is why governments have to be serious, but they pander to those who are paying the bills.

[wanglese]

You are correct in the first bit. I should have said the electricity companies are the ones who want to make more money.

It has absolutely nothing to do with reliance on non renewables.

Some of it, quite a lot, has to do with the fact that infratructure for our increased and existing demand has been neither properly maintained, nor increased.

Cililisation runs on electricity, and self interest is far more powerful than turning out the lights in a nonsense feel good thing.
Sorry, I'm cynical.:D

[AstralTraveller]

This isn't a government initiative. It was started by some environmental activists in Sydney and has grown to be international.

The point is to demonstrate to governments and 'the powers that be' that 'the people' want them to take energy conservation and renewable energy seriously. And the good thing is, rather than marching down the street waving a placard and shouting yourself hoarse you only have to flick a switch.

[Hans Tucker]

Finally someone has put a sensible perspective on this topic. It's a harmless awareness campaign and not designed to radically change the world. Turning out the lights for 1 hour doesn't hurt anyone so you can either be part of it or not. I am amazed at how much criticism and negativity this has generated. Either way it seems to be gaining momentum each year.

[Liz]

Wish it could happen under a new Moon and cloudless skies ;)

[Starkler]

The other side of the coin is people who think participating in earth hour is a meaningful contribution to conservation and that by participating they have discharged their 'personal responsibility' to do something about it.

[AstralTraveller]

I quite agree. Apart from the direct benefit it would be a great way to promote astronomy and responsible lighting. Years ago when the local council agreed to turn off some lights to see Comet Halley many of the punters were surprised by what they could see. In this matter there is a confluence of interests between environmentalists and astronomers. (Not forgetting that many astronomers are also environmentalists.)

[AstralTraveller]

That would be sad, and missing the point. Fortunately I haven't met anyone who thinks that way.

[astroron]

I have had in my head the song"From little things big things grow":)
even if it makes only 1% do it now the possibilities of what awareness it can generate in the future are endless:thumbsup:

[pgc hunter]

If the pollies want to do their bit for "global warming", maybe they should shut their traps. Permanently. ;) ;)

[AstralTraveller]

:thumbsup:

Yep, would be good for many reasons. Point is, will they do it voluntarily? 'Nuff said. :D