Update March 25, 2017 It’s been TEN years of people uniting to protect the planet…yet this year, it feels like we’ve all ‘gone dark’ with hopelessness in attempting to shoulder shake this new administration into scientific facts about climate change to get beyond symbolism.
So yes, Tonight, 8:30-9:30pm local time countdown to #ChangeClimateChange with the annual social media power of Earth Hour…but fergawdsakes, now more than ever it’s a moral imperative to commit to much, much more…Fight for the EPA, call your Congressional and Senate representatives, engage, inspire, inform. Do not just ‘turn out the lights’ on our planet. The world needs us to rally. Yesterday.
Flashback to prior posts: I wrote about Earth Hour earlier here in a post on virtual events and World Water Day and recall the coolness cache of being up in a late night editing session for Shaping Youth until after 3am, and watched Australia ‘go dark,’ as my Google home page suddenly turned black with the tagline, “We’ve turned the lights out, now it’s your turn.”
I realize it’s all about SYMBOLISM and using teachable moments, but to me 
it’s also a great way to engage kids of all ages in being part of a larger vision, instilling holistic thinking by stepping outside themselves.
For wee ones, it’s empowering to feel they too can be part of a cause, make a statement and make a difference…with the added bonus of darkness being associated with purposeful fun rather than scariness or solitude. (beats doing the ‘go away monsters dance’ a gazillion times for night-anxiety)
How about a night walk? Glow in the dark kickball? Astronomy fun? Giving the family pet a workout chasing light beams? Candlelight bathtime?
When children confront fears of the dark in safe, positive ways, darkness itself can shift to a confident, pleasurable memory of warmth and intimacy as well as reinforce their place in the world quite literally. Plus, you can often end up with a “remember the time we…” moment too!
Youth become empowered by making a one hour goal that’s ‘doable’ and easy to accomplish in a small chunk…always key to successful, sustainable action carrying forth to the next phase! (baby steps with positive outcomes vs. massive change that’s a sacrificial grind—It’s the old walk around the block vs. sprint a mile impetus to change…gotta start somewhere)
As far as I’m concerned, the sooner we can get kids to start seeing ‘we’re all in this together’ and that they’re part of a much larger interdependent universe, the better. Isn’t that collaborative theme the one educators try so hard to impart as a life lesson?
It’s a fun way to plant the seed for what can be done to achieve a “Quantum Shift” for us all.
Initial Visual Credit of kids’ hands/world: Stargazer.org, a free public service which helps people think outside themselves to a more global view of ‘what ifs’…in this case, safe-keeping of critical records, family safety preparation for emergencies. ALL things we should consider in an era of global warming and weather flukes! Flashlights, anyone?
Agree with you on the great value in using a simple, purposefully constrained, objective task to foster the conversation.
Side Note: Google did test the possibility of going dark all the time, and found that it actually INCREASES power consumption (http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/08/is-black-new-green.html) . I’m sure the awareness their swap has garnered with this Earth Hour stunt will far outweigh the momentary increase in power, though 😉
heehe. Hey thanks for that link! I’ll send it to my editing guru…I love tidbits like that! 🙂
“In the United States, Earth Hour was celebrated coast to coast, including in the flagship cities of Atlanta, GA; Chicago, IL, Phoenix, AZ; and San Francisco, CA; as well as supporting cities Charlotte, NC; Denver, CO; Honolulu, HI; Miami, FL; Minneapolis, MN; Pittsburgh, PA and St. Louis, MO and in smaller U.S. cities, such as Arlington, VA; Columbia, MO; Homer Glen, IL; La Grange, TX; and Norman, OK. In each of these cities, individuals and businesses created events to engage, enlighten and spread the message that together, each one of us can make a difference on this global issue.
Here is a sampling of results in each of Earth Hour 2008’s official participating cities:
Atlanta
Despite being hit by a highly unusual early spring tornado in the city’s downtown core two weeks ago, more than 400 buildings throughout metro Atlanta, including the storm-damaged Westin Peachtree Plaza hotel, participated in the first “lights out” event in Atlanta’s history. On the night the lights went out in Georgia, some of Atlanta’s most iconic buildings and landmarks, including the Bank of America Tower, Georgia Aquarium, CNN Center, and the Georgia State Capitol went dark for one hour when Mayor Shirley Franklin pulled the symbolic light switch as part of the city’s “Sustainable Atlanta” initiative.
Chicago
The City of Chicago was the first U.S. city to sign-on to Earth Hour, and the city continued to lead by example with more than 200 buildings in the central business district alone dimming their lights. Throughout the greater metropolitan area, more than 1,400 landmarks, businesses, and organizations went dark, including the Sears Tower, the John Hancock Center, Navy Pier, Soldier Field, Wrigley Field, theater marquees and the golden arches at nearly 500 McDonald’s restaurants. To support Chicago’s goal of being the greenest city in the nation, Mayor Richard M. Daley declared March 29, 2008 “EARTH HOUR DAY IN CHICAGO” and encouraged everyone to be aware of the effects of global warming and the need to address climate change in our daily lives. Local power company ComEd and advertising agency Leo Burnett were leaders in dimming Chicago’s soaring skyscrapers and beautiful skyline.
Phoenix
In the Valley of the Sun, city leaders took advantage of the NCAA West Regional basketball tournament at US Airways Center to darken the exterior lights and promote the event to attendees. In addition, Mayor Phil Gordon turned off Phoenix City Hall, as well as Chase Field (home of the Arizona Diamondbacks), the popular Dodge and Orpheum theatres and Arizona State University, where students led flashlight tours. Restaurants across downtown Phoenix lit candles, served “eco-tinis” and showed off glow-in-the-dark attire to guests enjoying organic Earth Hour menus.
San Francisco
COOL!!!!
Meanwhile…I watched my view of S.F. on the water from watching the lights dim across the Bay to see if I could note a difference in the S.F. skyline and the Oakland Hills/East Bay/Alameda environs…
i always participate whenver there is an Earth Hour event. it is a good thing that the World Wildlife Fund organized an event like this.
earth hour is really a great way to promote environmental awareness;’.
we always join the Earth Hour because it is one of the ways that you can show your support on the environment .