Yay! time to turn the lights back on!

thekidsgirl said:

Wait. Back on?

I've been blazing every light, tv and amplifier in my house since 8:30! I got it backwards.

ThreadBare said:

You're canceling out all of our good deeds!

thekidsgirl said:

I'd better stop my dryer, too, then...

ThreadBare said:

...well I'm bad too...I turned off the lights but left the computer on

does that defeat the purpose?

all my lights are out. only thing on is my computer.

... and my tv...

ThreadBare said:

Aww, c'mon! it was just one hour! You coulda lasted one hour

shanti0608 said:

you guys cant make another baby though....

thekidsgirl said:

... and my toaster ...

ThreadBare said:

Toast too!! mannn, you don't even like toast!

5 more minutes of darkness.hahaha! i should really do this more often...it's really peaceful!

KatSkrizzle said:

Hehehehe and that is a GOOD thing. I told him that we might as well have sex, I can't get any more pregnant.

Genesia said:

Yep, last piece of the puzzle

mdiver said:

You just think you know everything, don't you?

No one on my street gave a rat's arse about this.

GaryTheNoTrashCougar said:

Not one light went out on my street.

But to all those who feel good about saving the earth in an hour...my hat's off to you!

Genesia said:

What most people don't realise is the EARTH WILL SURVIVE despite whatever us dipshits pump into the air or pour into the sea, or bury in the ground. You think a little CO2 will destroy the Earth? No it won't, it might kill of humans/life for a while, but the Earth always bounces back. However, one things we do need to worry about is the Sun That sneaky bastard is due to become a red giant in 5 billion years, then the Earth is truly fucked. I say shove the wind farms, solar panels, hybrid cars up Al-Gore's ass and LETS ATTACK THE SUN!!!!!


[Edited 3/29/09 10:10am]

Genesia said:

Not everything, but you are pretty easy to work out.

Ace, did you see this today in the Star?...


Alison Farby reads a prayer at St. Cuthbert's Anglican Church during a candlelight meditation to coincide with Earth Hour, March 28, 2009

EARTH HOUR II IS A SMASH
Toronto 'gets it,' lowers power usage over last year as lights dim across the GTA and as far away as Beijing

Mar 29, 2009 04:30 AM
DANIEL DALE
STAFF REPORTER

And the environmentalists said let there be darkness. And – for an hour, at least – there was darkness: in downtown office towers and suburban homes, in stores big-box and mom-and-pop, at gatherings long-planned and impromptu.

Not a solution, no, but a statement. At 9:30 p.m., the conclusion of the second global Earth Hour, the meter at Toronto Hydro's control centre that measures city-wide electricity demand hit 2,545 megawatts – 15 per cent below typical demand at that time and 7 per cent below the lowest demand during Earth Hour in 2008.

Toronto's reduction of 455 megawatts was larger than the cumulative savings of the entire GTA during last year's event.

"Torontonians want to do what's right for the environment because they get it," Mayor David Miller told a cheering crowd at Nathan Phillips Square. "It's a privilege to be mayor of a city that gets it."

The increasing local popularity of Earth Hour, for which people worldwide were asked to turn off their lights between 8:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., reflected its rapid growth internationally. Launched in Sydney by the World Wildlife Fund in 2007 to raise awareness of the perils of climate change, it spread to more than 35 countries, including Canada, in 2008.

Yesterday, more than 80 countries and nearly 4,000 cities participated. Organizers claimed about 1 billion people spent the hour in the dark, an exponential increase from perhaps 50 million last year.

In Paris, the Eiffel Tower went noir. In Toronto, the CN Tower became as inconspicuous as a 553-metre building can ever be. In Athens, officials switched off the floodlights illuminating the Acropolis, an icon of western civilization. In Toronto, Honest Ed's iconically garish 23,000-bulb marquee temporarily ceased beckoning.

GTA hotels and stores welcomed guests by candlelight. Community groups hosted flashlight-lit walks. Amateur astronomers, savouring a rare approximation of light conditions in less dense locales, set up their telescopes in parks.

And tens of thousands congregated in private homes and public squares to both demonstrate their concern for the planet's fate and to share in the low-wattage spectacle.

At Nathan Phillips Square, thousands gathered for the city's official Earth Hour event, which featured a free concert. Many waved colourful glow sticks, loudly counting down the seconds until the beginning of the hour and cheering as City Hall went dark at the stroke of 8:30.

Many lights, of course, remained on. During the hour, Katie Szeto, 17, sat on a bench facing Queen St. W., looking dejectedly at the sky. "I'm a little disappointed, because I can't see the stars," said Szeto.

"And I'm sad that some buildings aren't dimmed," she said, pointing to several well-lit apartment buildings overlooking City Hall.

Organizers attempted to depict Earth Hour as a "global election," pitting people who "vote Earth" by turning their lights off versus people who "vote global warming" by leaving their lights on.

Some 250 Canadian cities participated. Yet some Canadians remained skeptical, arguing the event was little more than an exercise in feel-good tokenism.

At Dundas Square, hundreds lined up for free water filters Brita distributed to mark Earth Hour.

Olesya Kolisnyk, an environmentally conscious 29-year-old near the front of the line, said she had "very low expectations" about the event's long-term impact, though she supported the concept. "Something is better than nothing. Maybe we can do it quarterly."

WWF organizers said they acknowledged the limitations of a one-hour annual event. But they argued the event's worldwide popularity could influence governments to sign a new international accord on carbon emissions at the UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen in December. The Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.

"This is a critical year for climate," WWF Canada president and chief executive officer Gerald Butts has said. "We need to come out of Copenhagen with a workable deal, based on science, that is going to lower carbon emissions globally. We think this is a turning point."

China, whose support environmental groups consider essential to the success of any worldwide climate plan, participated in Earth Hour for the first time, turning off the lights at prominent Olympic venues and office towers.

During last year's Earth Hour, Milton, Newmarket, Aurora and Halton Hills cut their electricity use by a greater percentage than Toronto. Milton led the GTA with a 15 per cent reduction.

Before last night, Hydro officials cautiously predicted a Toronto decrease of 10 per cent. At the control centre, supervisors smiled as the reduction far surpassed expectations. "Torontonians have come through big time," said grid operations supervisor John Fletcher.

And then the city powered up. By 9:40 p.m., consumption had increased by 30 megawatts.

With files from Paola Loriggio and Jason Miller

mdiver said:

I'm surprised anyone else can get in here to post...what with your ego taking up so much room.

Trust me when I say you know nothing about me. And the people here who actually do know me would be the first to tell you that.
[Edited 3/29/09 13:46pm]

Cities switch off for Earth Hour

Major cities and global landmarks have been plunged into darkness as millions of people switched off lights for an hour to protest against climate change.

The initiative, Earth Hour, was begun in Sydney two years ago by green campaigners keen to cut energy use.

Correspondents say the aim is to create a huge wave of public pressure to influence a meeting in Copenhagen later this year to seek a new climate treaty.

Critics describe the event as a symbolic and meaningless gesture.

The switch-off was planned to take place in more than 3,400 towns and cities across 88 countries, at 2030 in each local time zone.

Earth Hour was launched in 2007 as a solo event in Sydney, Australia, with more than two million people involved. Last year's event claimed the participation of 370 cities.

Organisers said they wanted to demonstrate what people can do to reduce their carbon footprint and save energy, thus drawing attention to the problem of climate change.

China debut

This time Sydney was one of the first places to switch off. The BBC's Nick Bryant described a city where skyscrapers were hard to make out against the night sky.

Hours later, Beijing's most prominent Olympic venues, the Bird's Nest and Water Cube, went dark. China is taking part for the first time, with major cities like Hong Kong, Shanghai and Guangzhou also dimming their lights.

Other locations due to take part this time include Edinburgh Castle in Scotland, St Peter's Basilica in Rome, Paris' Eiffel Tower, the Egyptian Pyramids and New York's Empire State Building.

Fast-food giant McDonald's has pledged to dim its "golden arches" at 500 locations, while celebrities such as actress Cate Blanchett and Archbishop Desmond Tutu have promised support.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon backed the initiative in a video posted this month on the event's YouTube channel.

"Earth Hour is a way for the citizens of the world to send a clear message," he said. "They want action on climate change."

People are invited to provide blogs and short video clips on how they spend their time.

Genesia said:

... not mention my can opener ...

Lammastide said:

At my job, we have for the past few months use minimal lights.
Sometimes when I can't read, I have to turn it on, but then turn if back off.

Well, I save in other ways, I go without a plastic bag and just carry my items from the store without a bag.


.
[Edited 3/29/09 16:05pm]

Nope