Voluntary Darkness

On March 27, at 20:30, I am sure I was watching television when I could have been sitting in the dark, saving the planet.

It was Earth Hour (I learned today, a few days ex post facto). During this hour, we were meant to turn off all our electric conveniences including the lights, television, and phone chargers (I am not sure if we could use phones or not... I did not read the rules yet). And somehow someone was supposed to count all the kilowatt hours we saved during this hour.

In Belgrade, the government turned off the lights on the highways and bridges. They blacked-out the parliament (most agree that this was the best result of the campaign). Problematically, however, most of us just blamed EPS.

When the traffic lights were also extinguished, work on Gazela put on hold, and the overhead cameras watching over our infractions also blinked out, the official word from the city government was that "awareness of climate change has never been higher" in Belgrade.

I think we should use our natural advantage in this area and declare Internet Hour, when our ISP saves the planet by shutting down. We could declare Greenhouse Effect Hour - this happens in the winter when the heat snaps off in protest of global warming and in spring when it stays on as an Ironic Statement. I am also proposing several holidays including Exact Change Day, No Parking Day, and Post Office Paperwork Hour. In this last one, it is hoped that we will save 30,000 trees a minute from each post office.

It is exceedingly difficult to quantify our participation in this Earth Hour, especially when we seem to celebrate it several times a week already. The number of kilowatt hours saved by my office building alone over the course of any given month would likely be a significant percentage all by itself.

When I walk up the five flights to my office because the power is out again, I am much more aware of global climate change.

Naturally.