# Did you / Are you participating in Earth Hour tonight? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 28, 2010, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-are-you-participating-in-earth-hour-tonight/534076 "2010-03-28T02:30:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![EmAnJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@EmAnJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmAnJ)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-are-you-participating-in-earth-hour-tonight/534076/1 "2010-03-28T02:30:51Z")
Title says it all! [Earth Hour](http://www.earthhour.org/) ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-are-you-participating-in-earth-hour-tonight/534076/2 "2010-03-28T02:51:12Z")
Silly, ineffectual, feel good symbolism never accomplished anything. ## I say this as someone who has not eaten any meat/poultry for many, many years, who is vigilant about recycling, who votes for those who are most likely to protect the environment and who in almost every way represents a stereotypical Green Party posterboy… The world at large is not going to get serious about the environment until the dire wolf has already broken down the door, and at that point it will most likely be too damn late. ---
**Author:** ![Not\_a\_Platypus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d26b3c/32.png) [@Not\_a\_Platypus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Not_a_Platypus)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-are-you-participating-in-earth-hour-tonight/534076/3 "2010-03-28T03:09:54Z")
No. Things like this are a great way for people to feel like they’ve done something without actually having to change anything about their lifestyles. Even if I cared, we generally only have 1 light on at a time. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-are-you-participating-in-earth-hour-tonight/534076/4 "2010-03-28T03:31:09Z")
No. All of the promotion for it acknowledges that it’s purely symbolic. It’s not even feel-good symbolism; it’s “this is fucking terrible” symbolism. ---
**Author:** ![ShelliBean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f9ae1b/32.png) [@ShelliBean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShelliBean)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-are-you-participating-in-earth-hour-tonight/534076/5 "2010-03-28T03:49:01Z")
I turned on every light in my house for one hour and burned the heater at full blast downstairs and the A/C on 60 upstairs. Then I burned tires in my backyard and got out my hairspray bottles from the 80s to blow more CFCs into the atmosphere. Eat it, hippies. ---
**Author:** ![flickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7bcc69/32.png) [@flickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flickster)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-are-you-participating-in-earth-hour-tonight/534076/6 "2010-03-28T04:17:45Z")
> [@ShelliBean](#): > > I turned on every light in my house for one hour and burned the heater at full blast downstairs and the A/C on 60 upstairs. Then I burned tires in my backyard and got out my hairspray bottles from the 80s to blow more CFCs into the atmosphere. > > Eat it, hippies. And then some ---
**Author:** ![EmAnJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@EmAnJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmAnJ)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-are-you-participating-in-earth-hour-tonight/534076/7 "2010-03-28T04:24:24Z")
Thanks for threadshitting guys. Cheers. ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-are-you-participating-in-earth-hour-tonight/534076/8 "2010-03-28T04:39:34Z")
I stand by my answer—I bet my daily life has less negative impact on the global environment than 95% of my fellow Americans. I still say that Earth Hour is assinine to the extreme, and if you honestly feel differently, (that is, if you really feel that Earth Hour has any actual worth or value) you are not worth engaging in a dialogue with… Cheers!!! ---
**Author:** ![EmAnJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@EmAnJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmAnJ)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-are-you-participating-in-earth-hour-tonight/534076/9 "2010-03-28T04:45:56Z")
I don’t feel like it makes a difference, but at least it brings attention to the issue. Maybe makes a few people look into other things they can do to make an ongoing difference. ---
**Author:** ![magnusblitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@magnusblitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magnusblitz)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-are-you-participating-in-earth-hour-tonight/534076/10 "2010-03-28T04:49:56Z")
> [@EmAnJ](#): > > Thanks for threadshitting guys. Cheers. I don’t see how any of the posts here are threadshitting. They were all direct, on-point responses to the OP. FWIW, my first response was “no, what the heck is Earth hour?”. After clicking the link, it changed to “no, it’s pointless” ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-are-you-participating-in-earth-hour-tonight/534076/11 "2010-03-28T04:56:00Z")
> [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](#): > > until the dire wolf has already broken down the door, and at that point it will most likely be too damn late. Nah. At that point I’ll hit it with my _[Vorpal Sword](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vorpal_sword)_. ---
**Author:** ![EmAnJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@EmAnJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmAnJ)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-are-you-participating-in-earth-hour-tonight/534076/12 "2010-03-28T05:00:27Z")
> [@magnusblitz](#): > > I don’t see how any of the posts here are threadshitting. They were all direct, on-point responses to the OP. > > FWIW, my first response was “no, what the heck is Earth hour?”. After clicking the link, it changed to “no, it’s pointless” > [@](#): > > I turned on every light in my house for one hour and burned the heater at full blast downstairs and the A/C on 60 upstairs. Then I burned tires in my backyard and got out my hairspray bottles from the 80s to blow more CFCs into the atmosphere. Etc. ---
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-are-you-participating-in-earth-hour-tonight/534076/13 "2010-03-28T05:08:43Z")
This is a dumbed-down, low-commitment way to get people to be active about a cause. If you really cared about the environment, you’d do a hell of a lot more than shut off your lights for an hour. I do more for the environment when I kneecap people who wash entire sidewalks with the garden hose. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-are-you-participating-in-earth-hour-tonight/534076/14 "2010-03-28T05:24:03Z")
I really don’t give two shits. ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-are-you-participating-in-earth-hour-tonight/534076/15 "2010-03-28T06:18:34Z")
I participated accidentally, by being asleep. Interestingly, most of the people I know who earnestly participated turned off their lights, but left their TVs and/or computers on, which to me seems to violate the spirit of the idea. I’d love to see what percentage of overall electrical use in the U.S. comes from residences versus businesses and institutions. My guess is that it’s the minority. And that, in a nutshell, is why this whole idea is cockamamie nonsense. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-are-you-participating-in-earth-hour-tonight/534076/16 "2010-03-28T06:24:33Z")
> [@EmAnJ](#): > > Thanks for threadshitting guys. Cheers. Your poll has something to do with it. It reeks of smug. You left out: NO I’m doing the best I can on a daily basis without making a show of it for others to see. I, like the majority of the people I know, have switched to CFL’s, recycle, drive economic cars and generally do what is feasible in order to save the planet. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-are-you-participating-in-earth-hour-tonight/534076/17 "2010-03-28T07:44:40Z")
No, nor do I ever plan to. I think that’s as meaningful a gesture as sticking it to the gas companies by doing a one-day boycott. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-are-you-participating-in-earth-hour-tonight/534076/18 "2010-03-28T08:04:10Z")
No. As mentioned above, symbolism. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-are-you-participating-in-earth-hour-tonight/534076/19 "2010-03-28T08:47:36Z")
I honestly feel that Earth Hour is the worst kind of tree-hugging lefty psuedo-Communist bullshit, and refuse to take part. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-are-you-participating-in-earth-hour-tonight/534076/20 "2010-03-28T09:12:02Z")
I didn’t get a choice - I was staying at somebody else’s house, and they were doing it. Left to myself I wouldn’t bother. I was rather dreading it, but it was actually kind of nice sitting there and chatting by candlelight. We did it “properly” - no electrical devices of any sort were on for the duration. I don’t think it does bugger all for the environment really, but it is good to remind yourself you don’t need all these electrical gadgets to entertain you all the time. Still - 8pm the next day and where am I? … [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-are-you-participating-in-earth-hour-tonight/534076.md?page=2)