Earth Hour 2012

Earth Hour is tonight at 8:30 pm.  Last year on this date we were driving home from somewhere during Earth Hour and it wasn't safe or legal to drive without lights, but we left the lights off when we got home and lit our one oil lamp. 

After that Alice wanted to have "old fashioned" nights on Sundays at home.  The oil lamp was terrible as a light source though.  We couldn't read by it, could barely play a card game in its weak glow.  We only did it a couple of times.  Really, it's still light when the kids go to bed at this time of year.  It would make more of an impression to be remember of our electricity usage in the winter.

However, it does make me think annually about our electricity, water and gas usage and I do tend to use a bit less each year in spite of the electronics that the kids are starting to add to our home.  They each have a camera and an MP3 or ipod.  I try to get them to shower or bathe more too.   I ride my bike a bit more every year, especially after last summer when all of us were finally able to ride. 

In spite of what we do, I did a survey online at http://edmonton.zerofootprint.net/ and according to this, my footprint is higher than average.  Hmm.  I don't know if I agree with that, but I'll continue to try to improve it. 

Last year I bought one solar light for the garden.  I know this is maybe silly, but I wanted to know how much light it would cast if I brought it indoors in the evening.  It didn't work.  It was a pathetic light that worked for about two nights and then died. 

I'm going to try it again, starting tonight with a better light. 

A couple of weeks ago I won a collection of earth-friendly products from a school event. 



It included 3 solar garden lights, a package of flourescent bulbs (not shown), and a windup flashlight. 

I love the flashlight.  It also has an alarm on it (for scaring bears?  thieves?), a radio and the ability to charge our non-existant cell phone.  Cool.

But the amount of solar electricity that is wasted on the roof of our garage needs to be captured.  I'd love to mount some panels there.  Today I mounted two girls there to soak up some of the heat.  It was their idea really.

Ah, spring is here and it's so welcome.