antiaircraft Posted March 23, 2009 Posted March 23, 2009 This year, Earth Hour has been transformed into the world’s first global election, between Earth and global warming. For the first time in history, people of all ages, nationalities, race and background have the opportunity to use their light switch as their vote – Switching off your lights is a vote for Earth, or leaving them on is a vote for global warming. WWF are urging the world to VOTE EARTH and reach the target of 1 billion votes, which will be presented to world leaders at the Global Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen 2009. This meeting will determine official government policies to take action against global warming, which will replace the Kyoto Protocol. It is the chance for the people of the world to make their voice heard. Earth Hour began in Sydney in 2007, when 2.2 million homes and businesses switched off their lights for one hour. In 2008 the message had grown into a global sustainability movement, with 50 million people switching off their lights. Global landmarks such as the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Rome’s Colosseum, the Sydney Opera House and the Coca Cola billboard in Times Square all stood in darkness. In 2009, Earth Hour is being taken to the next level, with the goal of 1 billion people switching off their lights as part of a global vote. Unlike any election in history, it is not about what country you’re from, but instead, what planet you’re from. VOTE EARTH is a global call to action for every individual, every business, and every community. A call to stand up and take control over the future of our planet. Over 74 countries and territories have pledged their support to VOTE EARTH during Earth Hour 2009, and this number is growing everyday. We all have a vote, and every single vote counts. Together we can take control of the future of our planet, for future generations. VOTE EARTH by simply switching off your lights for one hour, and join the world for Earth Hour. Saturday, March 28, 8:30-9:30pm. You can find out more about this at earthhour.org Am I the only one on the entire of TDNF that's participating in this? :P Quote
ΩCCΩ Posted March 23, 2009 Posted March 23, 2009 Is it this Saturday? And is UAE among the 70 countries? Quote
antiaircraft Posted March 23, 2009 Author Posted March 23, 2009 Yes, March 28 is this Saturday. :yes: So turn off your lights for an hour starting at 8:30pm! C'mon, it's not that hard! :P They're even using 8:30pm local time for everybody so you don't have to fiddle with timezones! And I wasn't able to find a list of countries officially participating - but that doesn't really matter. This is a global statement! :D Quote
amitybelle Posted March 23, 2009 Posted March 23, 2009 I already told Izzy she has to do this :P. I did it last year, it was pretty fun! We had a candlelit dinner. Quote
antiaircraft Posted March 23, 2009 Author Posted March 23, 2009 Yay! I'm not alone! :P And candlelight can indeed be pretty fun at times - I once spent a night studying with candlelight, but that was 'cos the power was out. xD Quote
ΩCCΩ Posted March 23, 2009 Posted March 23, 2009 I think I can join it, is it only about light bulbs or can we watch TV? Quote
livvy Posted March 23, 2009 Posted March 23, 2009 0_0 That's brilliant! I'll totally do this! I wonder what this would look like from space.... There would be random bands of darkness (due to the time zones). Quote
ho_yt Posted March 23, 2009 Posted March 23, 2009 I'm not at home during that time so of course I will be switching off the lights that day haha.. Quote
Captain Awesome Pants Posted March 23, 2009 Posted March 23, 2009 My family and I did this last year. :P It was fun. We played a board game by candle light. I'm glad they are doing this again. Quote
Mimii Posted March 23, 2009 Posted March 23, 2009 Yay! I'm doing it of course! It will be weird not to have my computer on for an hour while I am awake! D: I shall have to survive. ;) Quote
Captain Awesome Pants Posted March 23, 2009 Posted March 23, 2009 Hey just our of curiosity, why is there a '60' in the earth hour picture you have up there? Quote
Unstream Posted March 23, 2009 Posted March 23, 2009 @Laura: 60 minutes is an hour? I think that's what it means. I've never heard of this before. My question is, how do they know if you've turned out the lights for this? Quote
tsaria_outsider Posted March 23, 2009 Posted March 23, 2009 This is a lovely idea in theory, but here's an idea, how much bees wax is being wasted on burning candles, and aren't the bees dieing out after all? Sorry, I'm just a big 'ole' pessimist. I, personally, will not likely turn off all of my lights. How ever, all the lights in my home are the super low energy ones, so they don't suck as much as a normal bulb ever does. Quote
Captain Awesome Pants Posted March 24, 2009 Posted March 24, 2009 Ooh, Will that makes sense. Tsaria, not everyone is burning candles. Plus, there's a good chance that those candles may have been gifts, or extras or something, and they would've never been burned otherwise, and that would be such a waste. We are going to kill something somehow, unless we completely stop living our lives. I mean completely. And then we'd die. You can't stop it. [/pessimist moment] Quote
Macabre Posted March 24, 2009 Posted March 24, 2009 It's a neat idea, but I'll be at a youth meet and unable to participate. Quote
Queen Diva Posted March 24, 2009 Posted March 24, 2009 Yup, I'll be participating again :) Instead of an hour though we have our lights off for the entire night! Makes it more fun... I would love to see how it would look from space too... would be way cool. Quote
Captain Awesome Pants Posted March 24, 2009 Posted March 24, 2009 I wonder if there is anyway to find a picture of it from space... Quote
Stephé Posted March 24, 2009 Posted March 24, 2009 That logo is actually my msn display picture at the moment XD And we've been talking about it at school too. Will, I don't think that you would personally get recognised. Maybe the thought that you've made a difference would count ;) Our teacher showed us this picture of earth from space (changed to the same time zone- night) and there were SO many bright lights, at particular areas. o_O I hadn't heard of it last year, but definitely taking part :D Quote
Unstream Posted March 24, 2009 Posted March 24, 2009 Well it mentioned something about a vote and I was just wondering how they were able to tally them all up. I mean, one hour of no lights really wouldn't make a difference... Quote
Stephé Posted March 24, 2009 Posted March 24, 2009 I think it could make a difference. Just because I saw that space view. :P If a whole planet turned off their lights for an hour, that could be billions of people. I guess that's how I think XD The vote part could be figurative language *shrug* Quote
Cara Posted March 25, 2009 Posted March 25, 2009 Well I'll be turning my lights off for an hour, besides I think I'll enjoy lighting up the house with candles for a bit, it sounds really romantic :P Quote
srahski Posted March 25, 2009 Posted March 25, 2009 I was going to do it last year but I forgot. I am plannign on it this year but I know I wont be home, I'll be at a party and I don't think they'd be turning the lights off unfortunately. Quote
StuckInSanity Posted March 25, 2009 Posted March 25, 2009 I tried to do this last year. It worked for the first 30 minutes until my parents got home and turned all the lights back on. And then got mad at me when I tried to explain the whole Earth Hour thing to them. <_< But I'm pretty sure my parents will be gone until nine this Saturday, so I'll just have to observe my Earth Hour 30 minutes early. :) Quote
antiaircraft Posted March 25, 2009 Author Posted March 25, 2009 o_O You have some stingy parents... As for the voting, this is a volunteer thing of course, so it involves some trust. I guess it's assumed that if you've signed up to participate, you will indeed be participating. Statistically speaking, an hour of no lights won't make that much effective difference - the point is that it shows everybody involved is willing to do their part where and when it counts. :yes: Quote
Lion Posted March 25, 2009 Posted March 25, 2009 Earth Hour? We don't do it. Our school is trying to get everyone to do it thoguh. To me, Sydney looks weird with no lights on though. =o Quote
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