Earth Hour

Have you ever heard of Earth Hour? Tomorrow will mark the third anniversary.

On the official Earth Hour website, it says

On Earth Hour hundreds of millions of people around the world will come together to call for action on climate change by doing something quite simple—turning off their lights for one hour. The movement symbolizes that by working together, each of us can make a positive impact in this fight, protecting our future and that of future generations. Learn more about how Earth Hour began, what we’ve accomplished, and what is in store for 2010.

It's a very simple collaborative project being done around the world and I will take part as well. I've spoken before about wanting to take "Elective Blackouts" and I'm going to use Earth Hour as my first official one.

31 US cities have signed on at this time to participate and New York is one of them.

While the event only last an hour, I'm assuming what I have planned will take a little longer. First, I will be unplugging everything in the house, except the fridge and stove. I will turn everything off; my laptop, my cell phones, my ipod. I will light candles. I have so many, you have no idea. And I will be doing a few creative things. I plan on finishing up the current book I'm reading, "Food Inc." Have you seen the movie or read the book? I plan on writing my book review for So Long a Letter and starting book four of the African Dispora Challenge that I am currently a part of. BrownGirl Speaks is a very cool woman and if you have a moment to spare you should roam around her website. I have a number of journal entries that I need to write and create in my collage art journals. I also want to take this time to purge many out dates files and projects in the various boxes in my home.

I'm not sure if I'm going to take pictures of the whole process because I really just want to be completely unplugged.

This reminds me of two weekends ago when New York had that horrible storm. I was with Mr. Officer at the time and while we were home relaxing, Mother Nature threw a big temper tantrum. The entire fence in his backyard came crashing down. A number of trees were knocked over and leaning dangerously over the house. An electrical wire snapped and was live and sparking just waiting to start a fire and then he lost power.

And when I say he lost power, it was if the earth stopped spinning on its axis and a MAJOR jerking motion happened as the earth came to screeching halt. If you've read before about Mr. Officer and I, you will know our practices are very different. Therefore, the power shutting off in his house could actually be felt. At any moment there are multiple tvs on, multiple radios on, a number of phones beeping and chiming, a billion lights are on and EVERYTHING IS ALWAYS plugged in. You just have no idea. (Perhaps I should see if he can rise to the challenge and turn his lights off for an hour)

I burst out laughing. It was the first time in four years there had been stillness and quiet and darkness in his house. And I loved it. I think he was almost short of a panic attack. Just what would he do without his music. "You know," I said, "If the power went off in my apartment, I might not even notice for a week or so." He remained silent. "It's just that I so rarely have things on and I probably wouldn't know something was wrong until the food started to smell." He refused to say anything. I took it as my cue to be quiet as well.

When he did visit my apartment for the first time he immediately said, "Its too dark in here. Turn the lights on. It's too quiet, where is the music, the tv. Oh this isn't going to work. I'm bringing in a flatscreen tv and its going right here." I just rolled my eyes.


Are you planning on participating in Earth Hour? Will you be a part of an Earth Hour event? I'm looking for one in New York. Know of any?