Earth Hour

[mmntech]

I've been conserving energy for years. Not because I care about global warming, but because I'm poor and cheap. Where's my Nobel Peace Prize?

Earth Hour does give me a good feeling of sticking it to the man. Lets see, I've got some RC batteries charging in the workshop, did a load of laundry, made tea, now I'm farting around on the internet. I feel like this has been a productive hour.

 

[sdifox]

err, I will be in a birthday party. Chances of them turning off the light is slim.

 

[Imp]

Oh shit, it happened already?

I had my 40" TV on plus my computer idling (not sleeping) while I ate dinner. Oh, and I was watching shit off my PVR.

 

[MaxPayne63]

To me, it's like the idiots who boycott buying gasoline on a certain day...They fill up the day before or the day after, though...so it really accomplishes nothing.

Why actually do anything of value when you can make a symbolic gesture instead? It's easier, cheaper, and people are more likely to notice it (which is the key point).

 

[Franz316]

It's an empty token gesture that accomplishes nothing.

 

[Nintendesert]

HAHAHA a worthless gesture to make morons feel good about themselves.

 

[sourn]

To me, it's like the idiots who boycott buying gasoline on a certain day...They fill up the day before or the day after, though...so it really accomplishes nothing.

Got to agree never did understand that. Personally I think this is just one of those it makes you feel good, but never actually accomplishes anything type of deal.

 

[Red Squirrel]

The act itself does not do anything, especially considering electricity comes from hydro electric dams here anyway, but it's just a symbolic act to raise awareness about needing to cut energy use to help stop/slow down global warming. To actively see all the lights shut off, and hear results from hydro etc, it's something to show for. If they told us "don't drive for one hour" most people are probably at home anyway especially on a weekend day. You just drive because you need to get somewhere.

If anything, it makes us realize we take everything we have for granted. If going without electricity for 1 hour is that hard, imagine people who live in poor countries that don't even have electricity, or only have it for certain times of the day.

The best way to make a difference is to get an electric car, but those arn't really readily available these days and the few models that are obtainable are extremely expensive. Second is cutting down on heat, you don't need to keep the entire house at +22 if you are in just one room. I usually set my thermostat to like 16 and in my office it tends to stay around 22 anyway with the computer.

 

[rockyct]

Oh shit, it happened already?

I had my 40" TV on plus my computer idling (not sleeping) while I ate dinner. Oh, and I was watching shit off my PVR.

Does it really matter if it happened or not? Answer: no.

 

[rockyct]

The act itself does not do anything, especially considering electricity comes from hydro electric dams here anyway, but it's just a symbolic act to raise awareness about needing to cut energy use to help stop/slow down global warming. To actively see all the lights shut off, and hear results from hydro etc, it's something to show for. If they told us "don't drive for one hour" most people are probably at home anyway especially on a weekend day. You just drive because you need to get somewhere.

If anything, it makes us realize we take everything we have for granted. If going without electricity for 1 hour is that hard, imagine people who live in poor countries that don't even have electricity, or only have it for certain times of the day.

The best way to make a difference is to get an electric car, but those arn't really readily available these days and the few models that are obtainable are extremely expensive. Second is cutting down on heat, you don't need to keep the entire house at +22 if you are in just one room. I usually set my thermostat to like 16 and in my office it tends to stay around 22 anyway with the computer.

Actually, the Nissan Leaf is a pretty reasonable car to buy. It's certainly not even close to the Tesla and doesn't have the gas engine of the Volt. My dad loves his and was one of the first people to get one. It's not for everyone and you can't really have it as your only car, but it should be fine for a lot of people. It has about an 80 mile range and takes 8 hours to do a full charge. My dad uses it for his daily commute and if he goes out of town, he uses the car he was driving before the Leaf.

 

[John Connor]

Fuck this. I have earth hour every night, then I generate heat and might make a baby!