# What's the point of Earth Hour? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 31, 2012, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-earth-hour/617364 "2012-03-31T08:16:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Michael63129](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3da27b/32.png) [@Michael63129](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael63129)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-earth-hour/617364/21 "2012-04-02T00:51:06Z")
> [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](#): > > Even if one manages to reduce one’s energy consumption to zero for one hour every year, it’s what one does for the remaining 8,765 hours that will make a difference. A ten per cent reduction over that period would do a lot more for the planet, and for one’s wallet. > > The big problem is making a ten percent reduction in your daily usage is a lot harder than turning the lights out for an hour… It isn’t as hard as you think; for example, replacing incandescents with CFL/LED bulbs, which can cut energy use for lighting by 75% or more (also, the payback time is shorter than you might think, just 600 hours for a $5 CFL (25 w) vs a $0.50 incandescent (100 w) and an electric rate of 10 cents/kWh). I know that some people complain that CFL/LEDs “don’t look right”, but only some of them don’t; many show the color rendering index and color temperature (maybe its just me, but compared to a CFL, and not one of the blueish ones, incandescents look _too_ yellow). ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-earth-hour/617364/22 "2012-04-02T01:08:02Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > I turn off the lights for 8 hours every night. > > Just saying. Ha! I turn off my computer _and_ my cell phone at night, in addition to my normal lights. Therefore, I’m a dirtier hippy than you are! 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![sisu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@sisu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sisu)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-earth-hour/617364/23 "2012-04-02T02:37:09Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > It gives people a warm feeling that they are doing something. It achieves nothing IMHO. like wetting your pants. I love how my SIL asked if her employer was going to observe Earth Hour. Why is that funny? She drives a truck in an open cut coal mine! It did not go over well… ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-earth-hour/617364/24 "2012-04-02T02:45:32Z")
> [@Jasper\_Kent](#): > > Of course it’s purely symbolic, but the idea is that everyone worldwide can agree on something (if only for an hour). > > I kinda like the idea, but I’m one of those dirty hippies. > > [http://www.worldwildlife.org/sites/earthhour/index.html](http://www.worldwildlife.org/sites/earthhour/index.html) Yes, that’s the point; although I was rather amused to see on the news a large crowd holding candles during the black-out hour. CO2 emissions reduction, they are doing it wrong. **6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast** , Trendy Pretendy, I’m _so_ stealing that. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-earth-hour/617364/25 "2012-04-02T03:10:28Z")
> [@PandaBear77](#): > > The point of Earth Hour is for smug hippies to do something to feel even more superior to the unenlightened masses than they normally feel. Or in this case, the enlightened masses. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-earth-hour/617364/26 "2012-04-02T09:28:50Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > I turn off the lights for 8 hours every night. > > Just saying. Bah! I turn them off for 8 hours every night, and for most of the day as well, so there! ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-earth-hour/617364/27 "2012-04-02T11:08:10Z")
> [@Richard\_Pearse](#): > > Of course. The point is not to save the world by turning stuff off for an hour, it’s to save the world by provoking discussion which it is clearly doing. Whether the discussion has any long term effects remains to be seen. I don’t think it was ever expected to go beyond Australia. But all we are discussing is either participating in this slacktivism, which you admit doesn’t accomplish much, or how silly this whole thing is. Who is actually discussing anything that would actually save the world? ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-earth-hour/617364/28 "2012-04-02T11:29:40Z")
> [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](#): > > It’s just a trendy pretendy, **AaronX**. > > Like when two people live in a four storey house with an elevator, have four cars, and think that their recycle bin absolves them. But enough about Mitt Romney. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-earth-hour/617364/29 "2012-04-02T11:55:14Z")
> [@sisu](#): > > like wetting your pants. > > I love how my SIL asked if her employer was going to observe Earth Hour. Why is that funny? She drives a truck in an open cut coal mine! > > It did not go over well… Did he remind her that she’d be out of a job if everyone actually did use less electricity in the long run? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-earth-hour/617364/30 "2012-04-02T12:28:45Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > White guilt? Cool, I’ll turn off my regular bulbs and turn on my retro huge incandescent christmas lights. They’re not white! ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-earth-hour/617364/31 "2012-04-02T14:39:51Z")
If Al Gore would curb 5% of HIS energy use, it would make sense. ---
**Author:** ![perfectparanoia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a5b964/32.png) [@perfectparanoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/perfectparanoia)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-earth-hour/617364/32 "2012-04-02T17:20:36Z")
As much as I HATE the idea of Earth Hour, it did give me a chance to talk about energy conservation with my kids. Things like turning off lights you aren’t using, taking shorter showers, etc. It seems to have enlightened them a little bit even if it is just for the short term. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-earth-hour/617364/33 "2012-04-02T18:02:25Z")
> [@perfectparanoia](#): > > As much as I HATE the idea of Earth Hour, it did give me a chance to talk about energy conservation with my kids. Things like turning off lights you aren’t using, taking shorter showers, etc. > > It seems to have enlightened them a little bit even if it is just for the short term. That’s not Earth Hour that made you do that; it’s Dalton McGuinty. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-earth-hour/617364/34 "2012-04-02T18:05:19Z")
Earth Hour lets those who participate feel smugly superior to those who don’t, while (judging by this thread) also letting those who don’t participate feel smugly superior to those who do. It’s a win-win! ---
**Author:** ![sisu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@sisu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sisu)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-earth-hour/617364/35 "2012-04-02T18:30:41Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Did he remind her that she’d be out of a job if everyone actually did use less electricity in the long run? Not a problem, it was a joke but all the coal goes to China ATM. Don’t think they will have earth hour ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-earth-hour/617364/36 "2012-04-03T16:55:36Z")
There’s been better advice in this thread on how to reduce your overall energy usage than anything that was discussed in the local media. Lots of nice, earnest folks blew out their candles at 9:31 on Saturday and turned on the TV again… Like I say, fasting for a day isn’t the same as going on a well-balanced diet. In fact, Earth Hour may have the harmful effect of causing people to think ‘Energy conservation is all about doing without things, isn’t it? I don’t want to go back to living in caves!’. ---
**Author:** ![perfectparanoia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a5b964/32.png) [@perfectparanoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/perfectparanoia)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-earth-hour/617364/37 "2012-04-03T17:58:43Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > That’s not Earth Hour that made you do that; it’s Dalton McGuinty. Thank so much for the coffee that just came out my nose. Where can I send the drycleaning bill again? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-earth-hour/617364/38 "2012-04-03T18:15:13Z")
> [@Richard\_Pearse](#): > > It’s intended to raise awareness of climate issues. This is public relations code for “it does nothing.” There are problems out there that aren’t well known and need attention, but energy use and climate issues are not among them. Those are problems that need solving, not awareness. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-earth-hour/617364.md?page=1)