I agree with Marco: Stunts like Earth Hour are completely fucking pointless
Sorry, but I’ve never been able to get behind silly stunts like Earth Hour, so we didn’t participate. Turning our lights off for an hour does nothing but tell all the people who are already on board with the concept that… you, too, are on board with the concept. Congratulations.
For the last few years, Jessi and I have been working towards the goal of developing a lifestyle that is overall less wasteful. Like Marco says, we have been “voting with our actions and our money,” because at the end of the day, that’s what anyone in actual positions of power to do or change things will give a crap about. Not a few light bulbs that were shut off for a fraction of our destructive time on this earth or a bunch of high-fiving on social networks.
Here’s a quick summary of what we have managed so far for the inevitable questions and accusations. We are far from perfect, but who isn’t? I got rid of my car in Denver in 2006—a town that really cannot be called “mass-transit friendly” unless you live in a couple of specific areas. We replaced Jessi’s clunky old Mazda that same year with new gas-conservative Toyota Matrix. We buy the cleanest paper towels we can afford, or at least the “select-a-size” kind so we are not throwing out nearly as much trash. We buy compact florescent bulbs, and I walk, train, or bus it for about 95 percent of my business and pleasure (also, I work at home). Jessi unfortunately has to drive to her job, but as soon as she lands a long-term position somewhere farther outside the city, we’ll move to give her a shorter drive (or even put her on a bus route), but stay close to a train line so I can still get around and downtown when needed. We turn our heat down at night, we insulated the dreadful doors in the last few apartments we’ve lived in, and we try to cut down on running heat and AC as much as possible.
If you really want to help make a difference, turn your lights on and look around (and outside) your house to find all the ways that you can actually improve your lifestyle. One-time stunts are easy. The only way the businesses and governments of the world are going to listen is if we start speaking through real actions and decisions that require long-term sacrifice and change.
I was at Chili’s during “Earth Hour” and if anyone was even the slightest bit worried about our planet, they could have dimmed the lights a little.
