Did you do it? Did you turn off all your lights and appliances Saturday night? Did you curl up on the couch with a good book and read by candlelight? If you didn't take part in Earth Hour last Saturday night, you were in the minority. Thousands of people in British Columbia, in Canada, in the world did their part for our environment.
Earth Hour is a global movement that brought people around the world together to show their support for action on climate change.
It's a global initiative led by World Wildlife Fund (WWF) that began last year in Sydney, Australia. More than two million people and 2,100 businesses participated, resulting in a 10 per cent reduction on their electrical grid. This year, WWF brought Earth Hour to the world.
According to BC Hydro, British Columbians saved 125 megawatts of electricity during Earth Hour, the equivalent of turning off 2.5 million lights. BC Hydro calculates the overall reduction in load was approximately an average of two per cent throughout the entire hour. If everyone who participated in Earth Hour last Saturday did the same thing every Saturday night, the combined savings would be enough to power 573 homes for an entire year. If British Columbians were to take the same energy conservation measures for one hour every evening, the combined savings would be enough to power more than 4,000 homes for an entire year.
These are staggering figures and ones that should not be taken lightly. The reality of climate change is here and is not going away. While Earth Hour was a wonderful global moment of change, why not have an Earth Hour every day? We're living in a society that is obsessed with power, and we take it for granted. We just assume that the power is always going to be there and when we flick the switch - poof, the lights will go on. But that may not always be the case.
Let's all commit to doing our part in saving energy and turn off unwanted lights and electricity when not in use.
If we don't all start changing our thinking soon, we may all be left sitting in the dark.
