Earth Hour just isn’t going to work. An inconvenient truth maybe, but a truth all the same.
The save-the-environment initiative began last March in Australia when 2.2 million people Down Under turned off their lights for an hour. Historic landmarks such as the Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House were in darkness. It was a symbolic gesture to recognize the importance of conserving energy, event organizers said.
One year later, the initiative has become a global movement as hundreds of other countries have signed up to partake in the event, where participants will spend an hour from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. on March 29 in darkness. With 22, 985 volunteers, Canada is in the lead with the most individual sign-ups in the world.
Mayor Larry O’Brien added Ottawa’s name to the growing list of major cities participating in the event while Hydro Ottawa pledged to monitor the drop in electricity during Earth Hour.
Any drop in energy use that day, low or high, is not going to affect the environment, let alone save it.
So isn’t Earth Hour sure to fade away to meet its fate as a fad? Yep.
The problem is that one-off days set aside to “save the environment” are simply not enough. Similar to digesting a stern lecture from a dental hygienist on the importance of flossing teeth, remembering to conserve energy for one day doesn’t last either. Like resolving to floss one’s teeth and actually doing it, resolving to conserve energy and actually doing it are two entirely different matters.
For that one day, everyone cares. Everyone flosses. And everyone wants to reduce his or her environmental footprint. But for the other 364 days (365, this leap year), energy conservation (like flossing) is a distant memory.
Anyone remember Car Free Day? Probably not – the last official one staged in Ottawa was Sept. 22, 2005. Walking or biking to work on that one day does not affect the other days in the year.
It’s not like Ottawans, or Canadians for that matter, can shrug off reducing their environmental footprint. Believe it or not, Canadians use more energy per year than the 760 million people in Africa combined, according to the David Suzuki Foundation.
Scary, yes, but instead of endorsing these short-lived awareness days, legislators should introduce more long-term, permanent solutions to energy waste. Able to meet target home energy usage for the month? Here’s a tax credit. Unwrapping that new satellite box? Read the labels instructing the customer to turn off the device when not in use.
And what happened to good old education? The “being green” issue has passed the tired “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” phrase. It’s time to start teaching children about how important and mindful it is to turn off a light upon exiting a room. To power down a computer after use. To start the dishwasher only when it’s full – or heck, to wash the dishes by hand.
But the answer doesn’t lie in one-day “symbolic gestures” that will go the way of “Car Free Day.” The answer lies in real actions and a real commitment to reduce energy waste year round.
So for now, consider storing the faddish idea of Earth Hour on that dusty shelf next to shag carpets, fanny packs and Chia Pets.