Last Saturday, March 28, at 8:30 p.m. was Earth Hour where you turn off all your lights to show support for the fight against global warming.
I actually took a long nap that evening and almost forgot about it. Thanks to Twitter for reminding me – so glad we were able to participate.
So what did we do during that one candlelit hour?
- Mica and Rinoa had a blast playing Monopoly with my sister.
- Troy managed to cook pancakes and sausages for dinner with light from just one candle.
- I tried to clean up in the kitchen and made sure Troy didn’t create a disaster zone – exciting, I know!
It was actually fun. Reminded me of those blackout days we used to have in Manila when I was in high school – well, which wasn’t as fun because those blackouts took hours and it was hard to finish my homework in the dark or sleep in hot humid weather.
When the hour was over, Mica was begging for us to do Earth Hour more often. I’m actually liking the idea.
It’s also heartwarming to see such wonderful global participation. Here are some awesome before and after pictures of Earth Hour in different major cities around the world. How was your Earth Hour experience?
I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned before in my blog that I’m a big supporter of environmental causes. I believe the climate crisis is real and I believe that all of us can help solve this problem, starting in our own homes.
Here are some of the simple things my family does to reduce our carbon footprint:
- We’ve replaced most (if not all) of our bulbs with compact flourescent bulbs.
- We make sure the dishwasher is full before running it.
- We use cloth bags when buying groceries. We do use plastic bags from the store to line our trash cans – so we made a compromise that we’ll only use “plastic” when our plastic bag supply is running low.
- When we go out, we bring our Klean Canteen – a reusable, eco-friendly, stainless steel hydration bottle – instead of buying plastic bottled water.
- We recycle big time. I even get mad at the garbage man when he dumps the recyclables together with the trash!
- I receive e-bills (where applicable) and pay all my bills online to help reduce paper consumption.
- We make sure all unused electronics are unplugged – because even when they are turned off, they still use energy. And we turn off the lights when no one is in the room.
- We always turn off computer monitors when we’re not using our computers.
- We usually just open our windows in the summer instead of using the AC (unless it’s unbearably hot).
- We refrain from idling the car (except when in traffic) – the rule is if you must wait more than 30 seconds, shut off your engine.
- We do keep our tires adequately inflated.
As an add-on, Troy used to carpool with a co-worker – hopefully he’ll have someone to carpool with again. And we’re planning on buying a hybrid car – helps the environment and we get a tax break.
We’ve also joined the Stop Global Warming Virtual March and signed the Petition to Repower America. I encourage you to sign up as well to show your support for a really good cause. You can also get more information about the climate crisis on these two great sites.
Please leave a comment to share your efforts in reducing your own carbon footprint. Let us help heal the earth and make sure that our children and children’s children have a healthy world to live in.
