Earth Hour 2012

[Cody]

Don't forget to turn your lights out at 20:30 tonight!

[SandJ]

Does this have any effect other than raise awareness and increase overtime for power station workers?


Edit: removed the "raise awareness" as I don't see how that is a benefit if change does not occur.

[Cmdr James]

Its a chance for middle class westerners to slap each other on the back and tell each other they are being green. Makes me sick.

[Cody]

Such cynicism about a simple symbolic gesture surprises me a little, but there you go!

[SandJ]

Such cynicism about a simple symbolic gesture surprises me a little, but there you go!

I have highlighted the problem word. I think the term for it is Slacktivism.

However, sort-of related: successful methods of encouraging change do exist. For example, local authorities and the Highways Agency in the UK have got much better at appreciating the benefits of street lighting that does not shine upwards. This has been mostly due to the good work of the Astronomy community's Dark Skies Campaign. They sold this by pointing out the financial saving of using lights that only illuminate that which needs to be illuminated.

Sadly, meanwhile, modern built housing in the UK is utilising stupid little Halogen lights. This new-build 1 bed flat has 28 x 50W 240v lights (= 1400 kW) where 5 x 100W bulbs and 2 x 100W florescent strips (= 700 W) would have done the job, had such things still been available. And the stupid little ones do a less good job than the old fashioned bulbs. (As well as lasting about 3 months instead of 8 years, and costing 10 to 20 times as much and containing non-biodegradable materials.) And don't get me started on the "new energy efficient bulbs" crap.

Earth Hour is a WWF marketing exercise that is hanging on to the back of the climate change bandwagon. But I see very little being said in relation to it that educates and informs people about the benefits of reduce / reuse / return / recycle.