Earth Hour 2010 - 27th March (8:30 pm)

Now who is not accustomed to unpredictable weather these days? Extreme winters and summers, unexpected showers or heat waves; catastrophes like tsunamis, earth quakes and hurricanes are now more regular in the news than before. “Global warming”, “Climatic changes”, “Monsoon delay”,…etc. are terms that have become household discussion points. Yet how many of us consciously try to do something about it? Nothing earth shattering, but something as small as switching off the non essential lights and appliances or switching of the television when you are not in the room??

Earth Hour in the year 2009 was a global event organized by WWF (World Wide Fund) and was supported in a big way with over 4,000 cities in 88 countries coming forward and pledging their support as a common cause towards sustainable development.

It’s that time of the year again, when we all need to stand up and take charge. Earth Hour is being observed on 27 March, 2010 between 8:30 – 9:30 pm (local time) worldwide. Earth Hour is an initiative to create global awareness on climate changes. On this day all we need to do is switch off all lights & electric appliances at 8:30 pm and show our support.

Well, me thinks, that Earth Hour is to shake everybody up from their comfort zone of ‘all is well’ when somewhere in our hearts we all know, it isn’t. We have somehow gotten used to taking things for granted. One power failure and our life gets disrupted. Maybe we should ask our ancestors who spent their lives by lighting candles & petromax lights!

My plea to all is that Earth Hour shouldn’t be an initiative that you undertake once a year!! It should be something which you will carry forward through the year. All we need to do is get conscious of the deteriorating environment and do our small bit towards sustainable development.

Few other things we can do are

# Walk whenever we can – something which is good for health also..:)
# Car pools – very much a doable thing for city dwellers
# Ride a bicycle – once a while atleast!
# Unplug appliances when not in use – for they consume power as well
# Use energy saving appliances at home and work places
# Replace bulbs with Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs)
# Plant a sapling – and take care of it later also!

A personal effort on all these fronts coupled with an enthusiastic family to support this endeavor will be the best way to support this movement. So on a personal front educate your near & dear, encourage your kids and more than anything get conscious yourself and you are on the way to being an environmentally friendly person!!