# Will you be observing earth hour? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 27, 2014, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-you-be-observing-earth-hour/684715 "2014-03-27T20:07:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2014, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-you-be-observing-earth-hour/684715/21 "2014-03-28T14:46:59Z")
I won’t beacause I would just forget to do it anyway, but my wife and I are taking part in an annual clean up of the Anacostia River that day. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2014, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-you-be-observing-earth-hour/684715/22 "2014-03-28T15:04:05Z")
I won’t because it’s the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard of. And that includes spam that I accidentally read. ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2014, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-you-be-observing-earth-hour/684715/23 "2014-03-28T15:09:36Z")
I will totally be participating. Mainly because I will be deep asleep by 8 and 830 just happens to come after that. Does that mean I’m observing Earth night? ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2014, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-you-be-observing-earth-hour/684715/24 "2014-03-28T15:14:02Z")
I won’t be participating because it means nothing to me and I’ll have forgotten about it by tomorrow evening. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Doom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Dr\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Doom)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2014, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-you-be-observing-earth-hour/684715/25 "2014-03-28T16:39:28Z")
I usually run bare-bones lights anyway, so, yes, I will have a darkened home, except for the warm wonderful glow of hockey on TV. I think it’s a nice initiative, even if some or most people don’t observe and participate, at least it keeps reminding us to be aware of our energy usage. ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2014, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-you-be-observing-earth-hour/684715/26 "2014-03-28T20:58:15Z")
First I’ve heard of it. I should be pulling out of the marina about that time, so I’ll turn off the boat’s interior lights in honor of the event. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2014, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-you-be-observing-earth-hour/684715/27 "2014-03-29T20:16:26Z")
I’m not trying to hijack this thread, but I think the reason I react so negatively to Earth Hour is because the first time I heard of turning the lights off for an hour was a reaction to the Enron created California energy crisis in the early 2000s. That lead to the idiotic, “Energy surcharge” charged by hotels which opened the floodgates for all the stupid add on fees charged by hotels, airlines, rental cars, and delivery services. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2014, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-you-be-observing-earth-hour/684715/28 "2014-03-29T21:01:03Z")
I won’t do it because I hate greenwashing. **elfkin** nailed it. Relevant post on Facebook: > [@](#): > > Imagine if we applied the Earth Hour method to other spheres of life: > > Polluters: Shut down the pipes! Govment says we gotta wait till 3:20! > > Uncle: So Molesters Anon told me to leave you alone for an hour this year. How about Thursday at 10? I’ll be drunk and asleep then anyway. > > NSA: Attention citizens, next Tuesday at 12pm EST is privacy hour. Go be naughty! Please provide a report afterward. > > Voters in the south: Hey gays! You’re married for the next hour! Hope you have your divorce papers handy. > > Poachers: WAIT! Tie him up by that tree. We’ll shoot him after lunch. Want some bush bacon? > > Congress: Aw, man, you mean for that one hour I actually have to work? > > Guantanamo: Prisoners, queue on yellow line and await resumption of enhanced interrogation. > > Factory farms: Hey birdies! I brought you a daylight balanced bulb! Can’t run it for too long though, gotta save energy and all that… > > So silly… ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2014, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-you-be-observing-earth-hour/684715/29 "2014-03-30T00:17:35Z")
This time six years ago I was spending my first night at home with my newborn and there was no way I was going to sit alone in the dark for an hour. I always think about that when Earth Hour rolls around. I never participate. I just enjoy the memory of that year when I had a good reason to not participate. We installed solar power this year, which should more than offset an hour a year. Doing our bit! ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2014, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-you-be-observing-earth-hour/684715/30 "2014-03-30T01:05:30Z")
I’m a half-hour late, but I just made us turn all our lights off. Mostly just to keep my family on their toes. Or annoy them. Or both. ETA: First thing I did was look outside and sneer at my neighbors with their lights still on… ---
**Author:** ![Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e47c2d/32.png) [@Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hershele_Ostropoler)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2014, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-you-be-observing-earth-hour/684715/31 "2014-03-30T01:19:42Z")
It’s 9:20 local time right now, so, I guess not ---
**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:** [March 30, 2014, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-you-be-observing-earth-hour/684715/32 "2014-03-30T03:00:57Z")
If we’re talking PM, which at least some seem to be assuming. I think I actually turned them on around that time, as that’s when it starts becoming dark. Why in the world not have it earlier in the evening, when you can still see? If it’s in the morning, I probably observed it accidentally. I wasn’t up. ---
**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 30, 2014, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-you-be-observing-earth-hour/684715/33 "2014-03-30T12:21:50Z")
I hate Earth Hour because it’s stupid, lefty, greenie nonsense. One of the fantastic things about living in a first world country in the 21st century is that we have ready and near-universal access to things like “electricity” and “computers” and “television” and “phones” and “refrigeration”. If I wanted to live like it was the middle ages I’d don a hessian sack for clothing then go and live in a hovel in the middle of nowhere and farm turnips or something. I was immensely pleased to see Earth Hour wasn’t really a thing this year - it originated in Australia so for the past few years the mainstream media has often plugged it quite strongly, but this year I hardly heard anything about it, which I am hopeful is a trend which continues as people realise the whole thing is meaningless. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2014, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-you-be-observing-earth-hour/684715/34 "2014-03-30T15:46:21Z")
Martini Enfield, my grandmother, (RIP), once told me that she didn’t believe in the concept of “the good old days” She was born in 1904, died in 2012, and said life was easier after they had air conditioners, washer/dryers, refrigerators, INDOOR BATHROOMS!, and so on. I think she wouldn’t have bothered with “earth hour”, and would have agreed with your post. Although she never did go online, I think she would have liked that too if she’d ever tried it. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2014, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-you-be-observing-earth-hour/684715/35 "2014-03-30T17:55:15Z")
The first I heard of it was last night while out to eat with my wife and another couple. Suddenly the lights went low. Huh? Sudden ambience setting at 8:30? “It’s for Earth Hour.” Earth Hour? Really? Really. Of course we were near the bar section and the seven big screen televisions showing the various sporting events were all still on as was the music thumping. Great food though! I don’t mind attempts to remind pople about how much energy we waste needlessly but this particular activity seems more image only and without real meaning than most greenwashing. ---
**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 31, 2014, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-you-be-observing-earth-hour/684715/36 "2014-03-31T06:36:34Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > Martini Enfield, my grandmother, (RIP), once told me that she didn’t believe in the concept of “the good old days” She was born in 1904, died in 2012, and said life was easier after they had air conditioners, washer/dryers, refrigerators, INDOOR BATHROOMS!, and so on. I think she wouldn’t have bothered with “earth hour”, and would have agreed with your post. > > Although she never did go online, I think she would have liked that too if she’d ever tried it. I’ve known a few old-timers with similar views, so your grandmother was clearly a wise woman. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-you-be-observing-earth-hour/684715.md?page=1)