Dimming the Lights to Stop Global Warming

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) ? Two dozen cities around the world plan to turn their lights off for one hour later this year in a worldwide campaign to raise awareness about global warming, organizers said Wednesday.

Last March, Sydney dimmed its skyline when residents, businesses and the local government took part in the first "Earth Hour" event that asked people to think about cutting their energy use. The event was a hit and the World Wildlife Fund, the event's organizer, said it would try to make the campaign global.

Organizers estimated that 2.2 million people and 2,100 businesses in Sydney turned off their lights, reducing the city's energy consumption by 10.2% for one hour, or the equivalent of taking 48,000 cars off the road for that time.

So far, 24 cities have agreed to take part in this year's event, scheduled for March 29, the environmental group said.

Under the plan, lights in each city will be switched off for one hour at 8:00 p.m. local time.

Andy Ridley, the executive director of the event, estimated that up to 30 million people in participating cities could become involved in this year's event, and organizers were hopeful of recruiting more.

"Even though the response has been overwhelming, we're still hopeful that more cities will come on board," Ridley said in a statement. "Climate change is a truly global issue and people around the world are demanding action."

Sydney was not the first city to cut the lights for conservation. In February last year, Paris and other parts of France dimmed the lights for five minutes in a similar gesture. Rome, Athens, Bangkok and San Francisco have also held similar events.

 

Thank you for posting this.

I wish we could turn these nice but ultimately meaningless gestures into real action to clean up our water supply and provide clean water for millions who don't have it...and address real environmental issues...instead of wasting literally millions of hours and dollars chasing a phenomenon we cannot control.

Do we really need any more feel-good gimmicks to "raise awareness" about global warming? I am all for cutting energy use, but why limit it to one hour each year? We should be conserving energy because it makes sense.

 

Dog it is about time you stop taking good and turning it into trash.

 

Apparently we do still need gimmicks because people are not getting the message about our environment. Global warming or not, pollution is still a big problem.

I wish we didn't need them, too, but it is what it is.

 

Any type of comment motivates me to continue to do what I am doing with my posts. We all have developed "consuming" habits in US which came with our buying power but unfortunately it is time to realize that we are "killing" the environment we all live in. I guess as long as we don't see or feel the damage instantly it's easy to ignore it. I hope that with the power of "knowledge" we will also wake up and start doing what we "should" and "must" do. I am trying to share these informations with the intention of motivating and igniting one more person or a family's interest to help stopping the direction we are all going with our planet Earth. I do consider my family as part of the problem. But our change is "in progress". We hope to be part of the solution.

 

I totally agree about pollution, but let's put all of these man hours and money into providing direct impacts on our environment, not promoting more gimmicks like the earth concert or whatever it was.

By chasing this elusive goal of stopping global warming, we are diverting resources that could help clean up our water supply and reduce pollution now.

 

I very much appreciate your passion and wasn't trying to negate what the post was about, moreso trying to build upon and improve it. I do think some of the hyperbole about the environment actually dissuades people from taking concrete action.

For instance, the title of the thread is "Dimming the Lights to Stop Global Warming." We need some intellectual honesty in these discussions. Does anyone truly believe that dimming lights for one hour will have ANY impact on global warming?

 

Maybe Broadlands would be interested in collecting empty yogurt containers and donating the proceeds to charity? Yogurt containers are not recyclable but a company called TerraCycle has partnered with Stonyfield Farm to collect the cups and make them into planting pots.

http://www.terracycle.net/
The TerraCycle Story...

...is a tale of ultimate Eco-Capitalism. The company's flagship product, TerraCycle Plant Food™, is an all-natural, all-organic, 'goof-proof' liquid plant food made from waste (worm poop) and packaged in waste (reused soda bottles)!


You can watch a video about TerraCycle.

 

I have been putting those in recycle bin they have the sign under them. I don't understand why they are not recycled with the other stuff but I will look into this. Thanks for the info..

 

http://www.stonyfield.com/AboutUs/WereDesigningForTheFuture.cfm

Also, a company named "Preserve" recycles yogurt cups into things like toothbrushes and shaving products. Whole Foods and Trader Joes sell some of their products, or your can order online from the company.

You can check out the "World's Shortest Comprehensive Recycling Guide" for more information.

 

oops dbl post!

 

guess how many babies will be born approximately 9 months later... hee heee....

 

I saw the title of this thread and thought it would be something about replacing incandescent bulbs with CFLs (compact fluorescent lightbulbs). This saves tons of energy and generate less heat. You end up spending less on light bulbs in the long run, and you spend much less on the electricity it takes to power them.

CFL's are not perfect for all situations, but I am hoping that as they become more popular, innovation will bring us new and better CFLs.

 

I just hope that people are properly disposing of their CFLs (recycling them at an approved location).

What I fear is that people are just throwing them in the trash. When CFLs are broken, their mercury content gets released directly into the environment!

 

O, have you thought about starting an environmental club here in Broadlands. I have no experience with this, but would love to do something about making Broadlands a "green community", to the extent that is possible.

 

I'm trying to find some that are made in the USA, NOT CHINA! And, yes, while there's all this talk about saving energy by switching to these bulbs, one rarely hears any mention of how to dispose of them properly. I would surmise most people are tossing them in the trash along with their batteries:scaredeyes:

 

Well, so far, I have never had to dispose of one. They are supposed to last for years -- haven't had one fail on me yet. I don't particularly care where they were made, but I guess this isn't the politics forum

 

Good point! I was reading and thinking "how did I get rid of a used fluorescent bulb?" I couldn't remember and maybe it's because I haven't had to yet!