On Saturday, March 29, 2008, people from around the world will join together for Earth Hour 2008 and turn off their lights from 8 to 9 p.m. (your local time) to reduce greenhouse gases and raise awareness about global warming.
Last year Earth Hour 2007 was a Sydney, Australia event where 2.2 million people and 2,100 Sydney businesses turned off their lights for one hour. This year it’s getting worldwide attention and millions of people in some of the world’s major capital cities, including Copenhagen, Toronto, Chicago, Melbourne, Brisbane and Tel Aviv, will unite and turn off their lights for Earth Hour.
If your kids are still up at 8 p.m., you can make Earth Hour into a fun family event.
- Light some candles (out of reach of the kids)
- Have a “camp out” in your living room
- Play a game like Hide and Go Seek
- Talk about your day
- Talk with your children about why you are turning off your lights for an hour
- Try to do their normal bedtime routine in the dark or by candlelight (We did a dry run of this Monday night and Ava loved it!)
- Go outside and look at the stars
- Just enjoy the time together
And if your kids are NOT still up at 8 p.m. (lucky!), then by all means, enjoy a nice quiet candle-lit evening with your significant other. I won’t give you a list of activities. Surely you can figure something out. (Makes me wonder if we’ll see an “Earth Hour baby boom” 9 months from now.) ;)
Will you pledge to turn off your lights for just one hour?
- Sign up for Earth Hour and then tell a friend or two. Together, our small actions can make a big difference.
Earth Hour doesn’t have to end at 9 p.m. on Saturday, you can incorporate it into your everyday life by doing little things like:
- turn off lights when you leave a room;
- switch to compact fluorescent light bulbs;
- turn off appliances when not in use;
- unplug things like cell phone chargers, the toaster, microwave and TV when they aren’t in use;
- use less hot water;
- switch to green power.
Every little bit helps to reduce global warming.
Hope you’ll join me and millions of others in the dark on Saturday! Don’t forget to sign up so you are officially counted.
Stumble it!
PlanningQueen says:
We have signed up and it. Last year we also did the The Big Switch Offfor 24 hours and the kids loved the candle lit baths and story times.
March 25th, 2008 at 1:45 am
BerryBird says:
I signed up for this last month and was a little disappointed to see I was only the 7th person from my city. I am hopeful that more people plan on participating, but simply did not register.
March 25th, 2008 at 5:42 am
chelle says:
I am a little crazy about lights so once the kids are in bed, we work with maybe one lamp on.
Maybe we will do this plus an hour earlier with the kids!
March 25th, 2008 at 6:11 am
Mom On The Run says:
I signed up a week ago. It will be a challenge to do it ’cause hubby will be in Ireland while I attempt to get a 2 yr old and 8 month old to bed without using a TV to entertain 2 yr old for 10 min while I nurse the baby… I’ll be sure to blog about it afterwards Sat. night.
Visit me @ http://www.momontherun.net
March 25th, 2008 at 6:21 am
erin says:
can i post this post on my blog? :)
March 25th, 2008 at 8:42 am
Sommer says:
Thanks for posting this over here too!!! We need to spread this message!
March 25th, 2008 at 10:51 am
Jenty says:
Thanks for reminding me, I forgot when it was!
March 25th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
Sherie says:
I’m signed up! Just wish I could be a part of the Earth Hour Baby Boom, too ;-)
March 25th, 2008 at 3:51 pm
Hestial says:
Thanks for sharing this!
I will definitely be participating this year :). Boyfriend’s going to be working late that night, so I think a nice, long, candlelit soak is going to be in order.
March 25th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
Leslie- LaMamaNaturale' says:
Hi Amy, I signed up for Earth Hour a couple wks. ago…I hope this ends up being a successful event here in the U.S All we can do is spread the word. P.S. I’m hosting a giveaway- pls. stop by! http://www.recycleyourday.com/lamamanaturale.htm
ttyl! thx.
March 25th, 2008 at 7:11 pm
N. & J. says:
My fiance and I tried this for lent and it worked out really well. Everything seems to slow down ( we don’t have kids) and it is easier to relax by candlelight without a TV or computer on. It was a great time to reconnect and catch up with one another.
N.
http://badhuman.wordpress.com
March 25th, 2008 at 7:26 pm
Michelle says:
What a great idea!
And I love how you have written about it, too. If you don’t mind, can I use some of your post on my blog? I’ll give credit where it is due, of course ;-)
March 25th, 2008 at 8:49 pm
Steven Klassen says:
What a neat idea. I’m definitely down with this one.
March 25th, 2008 at 9:03 pm
To Think Is To Create says:
Very cool, can’t wait!
P.S. Why have I never noticed your green living blogroll before now?!
March 25th, 2008 at 9:40 pm
Joy says:
Thanks so much for this tip! I am looking forward to it. Normally we wait for a power outage to whip out the ambiance lighting, but knowing that we’re helping with global warming makes this an even more exciting event. I have marked my calendar!
March 25th, 2008 at 9:43 pm
yarrow says:
Oh this is great! I signed up. Thanks for the information.
March 26th, 2008 at 7:21 am
Sonja says:
I just love it! I signed up too.
March 26th, 2008 at 8:59 am
Ethel says:
We’re going through one toddler being afraid of the dark, so this would be bad timing for us to try baths and bedtime in the candlelight (and I’m not sure I would be comfy with two toddlers in a dark bathtub).
What I can do is pass the word on, though, and have DH and I keep lights off excepting their nightlight once they are asleep.
March 26th, 2008 at 5:06 pm
Lisa C says:
We plan on participating!! Posted about it earlier this week. I’m very curious as to how my little ones are going to take it though. Maybe it will be a good time to get them to bed, not! LOL :)
March 28th, 2008 at 8:57 pm
Barb says:
I’m so glad you were able to post about this! Check out Google.com – they’ve “turned the lights out” already!! :D
March 29th, 2008 at 9:59 am
Doin’ It for the Environment « Inciteful Mama says:
[...] Crunchy Domestic Goddess has tips on things you can do with kidlets to make Earth Hour a family event. [...]
March 29th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
Mary says:
I love your blog. I wite for a site also in the Going Green area! Reading your blog I would think we were somehow related! I am all about Going Green,Tree Huging,and Omega 3′s!!!!
March 29th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
Elizabeth-The Whole Family says:
We plan to have our lights out tonight! Thanks for the heads up on this.
March 29th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
Pinky Bean says:
Thanks for the great ideas! I did a few articles regarding Earth Day and thought our readers might enjoy your ideas, so I posted a link to your tips.
http://www.ecollo.com/post/2008/03/Fill-the-time-during-your-Earth-Hour.aspx
April 8th, 2008 at 10:32 am
Janelle V. says:
What a neat idea! I already do this at my apartment- it’s a great way to save money and the environment :)
April 11th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
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