One hour at a time
Melissa Hiebert
This Friday, March 29 at exactly 8 p.m., millions of people from all over the world will be shutting off their lights, participating in what has turned into global movement against climate change: Earth Hour.
Earth Hour, an event run by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), was initially created “to take a stand against the greatest threat our planet has ever faced,” the official website explains. “Earth Hour uses the simple action of turning off the lights for one hour to deliver a powerful message about the need for action on global warming.”
The movement, which originated in Sydney, Australia around the same time last year, caught the attention of the world when 2.2 million Australians plunged themselves into darkness for an hour, including many major businesses and even the world-famous Sydney Opera House. Inspired by the success of the movement in Sydney, this year, dozens of major cities around the world have decided to participate, including Copenhagen, Toronto, Tel Aviv and Chicago.
When I first heard about this initiative, I thought, “Great, another ‘statement’ about global warming.” Popularized by icons like Al Gore (who has been dubbed the “poster boy for the anti-climate change movement”), pop-environmentalists like David Suzuki, and countless numbers of enviro-conscious rock stars and movie stars, global warming has already become the number one voting issue amongst Canadians, a regular staple in the news section of every major newspaper and the buzz issue at probably every water cooler around the Western world. But no, what global warming definitely needs is more attention.
The event claims that its primary mission is to “express that individual action on a mass scale can help change our planet for the better” and demonstrate the linkage between energy usage and climate change. However, it seems that without any long-term plan in place to encourage people to reduce their energy consumption every day of the year, Earth Day could prove to be merely another flashy display of “awareness raising” with few real results.
While Earth Hour’s fundamental goals are noble, it leads one to question whether or not they are realistic or even coherent. “If the greenhouse reduction achieved in the Sydney [Centre Business District] during Earth Hour was sustained for a year,” the website boasts, “it would be equivalent to taking 48,616 cars off the road for a year.” Initially it sounds like an impressive stat, until you think about what it involves: millions and millions of people living in complete darkness for an entire year. The relevancy of the statistic seems to fade very quickly.
It seems that there are many more practical steps people can take towards the prevention of climate change. Buying food produced locally has a huge impact on carbon emissions, as the amount of fuel it takes to ship bananas in from thousands of miles away is astronomical. Simply driving less, walking more and taking public transportation can cut back yearly emissions drastically. And of course, as Earth Hour is attempting to get across, simply turning off unnecessary lights daily can also have an impact on one’s global footprint.
“Wait a minute,” I bet you’re thinking, “Haven’t I heard those suggestions somewhere before?” Of course, because almost everyone and their dog are painfully aware of what they can do to prevent climate change — the problem is, no one is doing it. I think the main goal in the future will not be in the creation of “global movements” or documentaries featuring former vice-presidents, but rather, the implementation of long-term plans at all levels — globally, nationally and locally — that encourage feasible, sustained plans for the reduction of carbon emissions.
I, however, have come up with the ultimate global awareness campaign that will urge people to do the number one thing that is the most essential to the reduction of carbon emissions and the prevention of global warming. It may not involve flashy displays but it definitely touches on the number one cause of global warming to date and the number one thing people can do to stop it. The slogan is simply this: just fucking do it already.
