March 28th. Get out the old felt
tipped marker and circle that date, it’s an important one. For precisely one
hour governments, companies, businesses, and homeowners will be plunging
themselves into darkness for a full sixty minutes. For those of us that love
gadgets, this hour should hold a special resonance. After all, these
technological wunderkinds that keep us entertained are drawing power from the
same source as department stores and factories; thousands of complications, one
problem. You may be a little curious as to why this article is being published
now as opposed to the March 27th. But the answer is simple; Earth
Hour isn’t so much about saving electricity as it is about raising awareness. A
short blurb the day before will unfortunately be the tact of many media outlets
but there are those publications and business that have already started their
Earth Hour coverage and with some eye opening results.
The Toronto Star, for example, has already
begun running a daily Earth Hour feature that focuses on what big businesses
are doing to contribute to the awareness. For instance, one article notes how
Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment, the owner’s of Toronto’s NHL
franchise The Maple Leafs, plans to dim the lights in the near 20,000 capacity
arena during an actual game. Instantly that affects thousands of people in
attendance and millions more watching the game on television. Another article
notes how Sears Canada, a national sponsor of Earth Hour, intends to power down
all lights in the nation-wide chain of stores (save those needed for
emergencies). Even beer brewers are getting into the spirit, as Molson Canada
revealed in an article that they’ve put in measures to save eight million of
litres of water per year. And the phenomenon isn’t just localized to the
canucks.
The World Wildlife Fund, who run Earth Hour
globally, have established a photo contest that seeks to capture the visual
impact of the dark hour on cities and their surroundings. The winner will see
his or her picture published in national magazines as well as receive a brand
new Canon IXUS camera.
As the entire project takes on more and
more momentum the level of environmental awareness is only going to grow and
hopefully that will instil a sense of urgency. And remember: the more environmentally sound
our energy sources are the more satisfaction we can derive from our gadgets and gizmos.
