After a long winter of high heating bills, Earth Hour is here once again to remind us of just how much energy we use. Earth Hour takes place this Saturday between 8:30 and 9:30 p.m.
The World Wildlife Fund launched Earth Hour in 2007 as a way to raise awareness about energy usage and climate change. Ottawa has participated in the worldwide event for the last five years.
According to University of Ottawa environmental science professor Nicholas Rivers, the province of Ontario only sees an average decrease of four-to-six per-cent in power usage during Earth Hour. In 2012 and 2013, the energy decrease was only 2.7 per cent across the province. The Independent Electricity System Operator records the percentage of energy saved during Earth Hour every year. Despite that seemingly small number, the IESO says it is equivalent to the average peak energy needs in a city the size of Burlington.
However, Rivers says the goal of the event is not merely to reduce electricity use. “We’re not going to save the environment by turning off our lights for an hour. The indirect effect is to make people think about the environment,” he says.
The worst public offenses against the environment were the use of fossil fuels and heating homes, Rivers says. Driving everywhere and the use of fossil fuels by commercial aircraft are among the worst environmental crimes. He also says the food we eat that is not in season, such as produce flown in from Mexico, is another environmental evil.
However, he argues it’s not entirely the responsibility of the public to prevent climate change. Rivers says climate change is more effectively fought through governmental legislation. “For real effective change, we need public policy to promote good environmental behaviour,” Rivers says. “For systemic change, we need to lobby the government.”
At the municipal level, the City of Ottawa turns off all the lights in its administrative buildings, including city hall, to commemorate Earth Hour says Laila Gibbons, manager of parks, buildings and ground services for the city. In an email, she described the measures taken by the city, including turning off all of their electronic billboards and encouraging Ottawans to participate.
In 2014, an energy management plan for 2015 to 2019 was submitted to city council, with different energy saving strategies included. One of these was to implement an energy-efficient street lighting program, which would change 67,000 streetlights to LED bulbs and save 50 per cent of the energy they currently used.
For University of Ottawa professor Salamat Tabbusum, a former employee of Earth Hour founding organization World Wildlife Fund, the educational aspect of the event is the most important factor. He says it’s important to teach new generations about environmental awareness, as they’ll become the decision-makers of the future.
“It matters how this is incorporated into primary and secondary school curriculums,” Tabbasum says. “Environmentally conscious students are very important. They’re leading environmental consciousness.”