Since last night was Earth Hour, I had intended to put the kids to bed at 8 pm like I usually do, and turn off almost all the lights. I assumed that Breanna would go to sleep quickly and I planned on leaving Hayley’s small lamp on because she’s afraid of the dark. Then I would come out in the dark living room and hang out online since I could run my laptop off the battery power without using electricity.
Except that yesterday we visited my parents and Breanna fell asleep on the way home so she wasn’t tired at 8 after her 20-minute power nap in the car, and Hayley was extremely worried about the idea of turning the lights out even with the promise that she could leave hers on and even the hall light if she needed it.
I didn’t want to miss Earth Hour, so I said what the hell and figured since it was a Saturday, bed time didn’t have to be a strict rule. Instead of putting them to bed only to have to fight Breanna to sleep and have all the lights blazing, I let them stay up and we celebrated the hour together. We lit three candles in the living room and spaced them out so there was a cozy glow, and then I opened the blinds to let the light in from the street lamps as well. It was dark but not scary dark for two little girls, and I never even bothered to touch my computer since we sat on the floor or the couch and read books by candle light. I also explained to Hayley how people didn’t have electricity at all once upon a time and had to rely on candles or lanterns at night. She was fascinated by that, so I’ll have to keep Little House on the Prairie books in the back of my mind for future reading for her.
We did cheat just a little twice, both times in the bathroom. Our bathroom has no window so when the lights are out it’s pitch black in there. I wasn’t comfortable walking around with drippy candles with two monkeys at my feet, so when both Hayley and I needed to use the bathroom, the three of us would go together and we’d turn the light on and hurry.
Hayley was disappointed when 9:00 pm rolled around and it was time to go to bed. Still, she was tired by then and fell asleep quickly. Breanna still took an hour to fall asleep after that but I just watched Law & Order: SVU in bed until she drifted off. When I came out, I was reluctant to light the whole place up so I turned the hall light off since Hayley was sound asleep, and I only turned on my desk lamp in the living room, rather than two lamps like I usually do.
I watched the 11 o’clock news that night and was disappointed to hear that, unlike Australia’s raging success last year, Montreal was a bit of a fizzle. Apparently not all that many people bothered to turn off their lights; I knew our neighborhood wasn’t taking part much by glancing out the windows. Still, they turned off the lights on the cross on Mount Royal, turned off the giant beacon light on Place Ville Marie’s rooftop, and I know that aside from ourselves, my parents took part (my mom said she was going to light candles and listen to the hockey game on her transistor radio) and so did some of our friends who did the same thing we did.
Hopefully next year more people will take part. In the meantime, I’m glad that I did my small share and I’m glad that I involved my kids. After all, they’re the ones we’re trying to protect right? We’re trying to save the planet for them and their children, so all the better that they were up to enjoy Earth Hour with me.
Did you turn out your lights in your city?
I’m in Northern California and I’ve never even heard of Earth hour – what exactly is it? I thought that I was somewhat in touch.. Guess not!
Oops, sorry about that, I totally forgot the link. I included it now, but basically Earth Hour was urging people to turn off their lights (as well as any unnecessary things like TVs) for one hour from 8-9 pm on March 29th. The object was to make a statement about climate change and to get people moving towards change to stop it.
I have to admit that I forgot about it. I thought it was on Sunday night, and then the fact that ours started BEFORE Sydney, really put me off.
We spend most of our evening in the dark as it is, as we prefer no lights on, and often the candles are lit, but that’s just us. Oh, and the lack of a lamp helps. In the winter we have our fireplace that supplies nice lighting too. 🙂
Oops, I meant to say, I really love that candlelit shot of the girls.
We did the Earth Hour thing. My kids loved it. In fact, we’re thinking of making it a weekly thing. 😉
I noticed a lot of homes around us with their lights on too (we’re in Ottawa) but I think that participation and awareness will increase with each subsequent passing of Earth Hour.
Great shot of the girls!
I heard about Earth Hour too late. Maybe it will really catch on next year?
What a great picture of the girls! We participated in Earth Hour, though our city didn’t. I have to admit, though, that it wasn’t much of a stretch for us, since we usually have the lights low or off in the evenings with candles lit. If everybody could make a habit of using less lights every night, we’d make some real progress. I think it was good as a symbolic act, though, and one that might capture some political attention.
(sorry if this posts twice, it gave me a 404)
My family and I didn’t do Earth hour because, plain and simply, I forgot about it. Even after a reminder. We live in Southern California and as far as I can tell, our city did not participate. Although, I think it’s a great idea.
As a symbolic event intended to bring awareness to global problems this is quite good. Any real solution will ultimately need energy saving events that can be done daily … or alternate forms of energy (rooftop panels, new engines that run without reliance on petroleum, etc.)
Anyhoo, I forgot about it when I got home. I’m with the “next year” crowd.
Yeah! It is indeed nice to participate in this kind of global event; doing your part to contribute something for the environment. I also enjoyed the Earth Hour because me and our neighbors turned off our lights, lit some candle lights and went outside to view our light-less street. Stars are more visible that night and I realized that the night is lovelier when there is an absence of artificial lights!