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).
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.
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?
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.
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.
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!’.
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.