houstonmacbro Posted March 29, 2008 Share Posted March 29, 2008 Anyone planning to give up electricity for 1 hour tonight at 8 p.m.http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iWEjNjk...q75VtwD8VNBJE01This one kinda snuck past me, but sure. We can do our part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KatieDidIt Posted March 30, 2008 Share Posted March 30, 2008 Anyone planning to give up electricity for 1 hour tonight at 8 p.m.http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iWEjNjk...q75VtwD8VNBJE01This one kinda snuck past me, but sure. We can do our part.Probably would have attempted if it was 7-8. that way you can sit outside in the light and enjoy the evening, watch the kids swim, grill, etc. By 8 its too dark outside at this point, and then its too dark inside to read.........so they lost us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
memebag Posted March 30, 2008 Share Posted March 30, 2008 Probably would have attempted if it was 7-8. that way you can sit outside in the light and enjoy the evening, watch the kids swim, grill, etc. By 8 its too dark outside at this point, and then its too dark inside to read.........so they lost us.Your kids are swimming already? Still too cold for mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonDFW Posted March 30, 2008 Share Posted March 30, 2008 Your kids are swimming already? Still too cold for mine.When you put 100kw-hr or so into the pool it is nice and toasty!Jason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
editor Posted March 30, 2008 Share Posted March 30, 2008 Up here in Chicago, the city hyped it pretty hard, but it was pretty lame. The mayor said that 200 buildings were going to participate, and I guess maybe they did. But it just looks the same as the city regularly does after midnight because all the lights go out then anyway.I noticed the suburbs stayed all lit up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marmer Posted March 30, 2008 Share Posted March 30, 2008 Yeah, we did. Turned off the lights, lit a bunch of candles and snuggled on the couch. May have even dozed off a little... it was nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houstonmacbro Posted March 30, 2008 Author Share Posted March 30, 2008 Yeah, we did. Turned off the lights, lit a bunch of candles and snuggled on the couch. May have even dozed off a little... it was nice. How lovely! With the windows open I bet you had a nice cool breeze too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNiche Posted March 30, 2008 Share Posted March 30, 2008 Yeah, we did. Turned off the lights, lit a bunch of candles and snuggled on the couch. May have even dozed off a little... it was nice. StuffWhitePeopleLike: Awareness Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crunchtastic Posted March 30, 2008 Share Posted March 30, 2008 (edited) StuffWhitePeopleLike: Awareness my lights at home were off, we going to get pizza. Does that count? in all seriousness, I haven't heard of this one, and I'm one of those 'buy nothing day' crazies. edit: Ooh, never mind, I saw the bracelets for sale online. Edited March 30, 2008 by crunchtastic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subdude Posted March 30, 2008 Share Posted March 30, 2008 The point of this kind of thing totally escapes me. "Awareness" hits the ol' nail on the head - it's just a trite feel-good measure. Asking people to sit in the dark for an hour accomplishes effectively nothing. The numbers won't be available for a few days, but I'm curious to see the impact on electricity demand and market prices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KatieDidIt Posted March 30, 2008 Share Posted March 30, 2008 Your kids are swimming already? Still too cold for mine. Yes, I have polar bears for children. They have been in for about a month. Its more like jump in , jump out run around like loonies then jump back in for a few minutes and repeat. We don't have a pool heater. We have an old 1970's Anthony Pool that needs repairs monthly. Major pain in the butt. Kids love it, I think it looks like it could make an excellent wine cave. The point of this kind of thing totally escapes me. "Awareness" hits the ol' nail on the head - it's just a trite feel-good measure. Asking people to sit in the dark for an hour accomplishes effectively nothing. The numbers won't be available for a few days, but I'm curious to see the impact on electricity demand and market prices. 'Let's just hope the government doesn't get the bright idea to mandate rolling blackouts like they have done in the past. They know what's best for us in a free society you know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicman Posted March 30, 2008 Share Posted March 30, 2008 (edited) i turned on my lights, turned down the a/c and turned up the muzak. but it's ok cause i purchased my carbon credits. Edited March 30, 2008 by musicman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KatieDidIt Posted March 30, 2008 Share Posted March 30, 2008 i turned on my lights, turned down the a/c and turned up the muzak. but it's ok cause i purchased my carbon credits. I'm so glad that someone is paying for the important capture of cow methane. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KinkaidAlum Posted March 30, 2008 Share Posted March 30, 2008 What is wrong with raising awareness?Sure, asking people to sit in the dark for one hour one day a year is lame. That said, if people actully think about that hour and can see the results (early results are showing power usage went down in Australia by 23% that hour) then good can come out of it.Sorry, but I think it's a great idea to show that there are little things you can do every day to cut down on your carbon footprint. Don't run the water when you brush your teeth or let it run for 20 minutes in the shower while you check your phone messages. Turn off lights in rooms in which they are not necessary. Unplug chargers that are not being used. Don't buy bottled water. Walk whenever you can. While these all sound silly, they can make a difference. However, I guess it's more cool to make fun of people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
editor Posted March 30, 2008 Share Posted March 30, 2008 I'm not really sure what the point of this was, either.The radio reports mentioned that it is supposed to raise awareness of light pollution. Then a few minutes later the radio indicated that it was supposed to raise awareness of energy efficiency. Later it mentioned carbon.If it's a light pollution thing, then I'm all for it. I think more should be done to address that problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNiche Posted March 30, 2008 Share Posted March 30, 2008 However, I guess it's more cool to make fun of people.If a significant number of people (in the millions) decide that they want to change their lifestyle permanently so as to have the effect of reducing Australia's energy consumption by 23% all at once, never to rise again, then I'll be impressed. That's some hardcore awareness.But last night's silliness is cool to make fun of for the same reason that Thomas Payne ridiculed "sunshine soldiers". Their convictions are weak and a lot of them are in it for the wrong reasons. I'll bet some of them even lit a bunch of candles, thus increasing their carbon footprint and completely defeating the purpose, all the while living an hour of total self-delusion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
editor Posted March 30, 2008 Share Posted March 30, 2008 When I was out today I saw an ad for last night's event on a bus. It appears the lights out thingy was sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund (darkness=pandas?) and Hewlett Packard (darkness=printers=pandas?). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houstonmacbro Posted March 31, 2008 Author Share Posted March 31, 2008 I think it was a good idea. If nothing else, energy consumption went down for that 8p time period around the world. That has to be a good thing right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KinkaidAlum Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 I think it was a good idea. If nothing else, energy consumption went down for that 8p time period around the world. That has to be a good thing right? No. Doing something for one hour just to raise "awareness" is stupid. Who cares if it got people thinking about energy consumption? Who cares if it got media coverage around the world? Who cares if some of the world's greatest architectural treasures participated (Sydney Opera House, Golden Gate Bridge, Hancock Tower in Chicago, etc...) in the event? Who cares if energy consumption went down for that hour? This is a stupid event for stupid people who only want to feel better about their stupid, selfish lives. Global warming isn't real. *The above is a Cliff Notes version rant from the right wing of this board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNiche Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 No. Doing something for one hour just to raise "awareness" is stupid. Who cares if it got people thinking about energy consumption? Who cares if it got media coverage around the world? Who cares if some of the world's greatest architectural treasures participated (Sydney Opera House, Golden Gate Bridge, Hancock Tower in Chicago, etc...) in the event? Who cares if energy consumption went down for that hour? This is a stupid event for stupid people who only want to feel better about their stupid, selfish lives. Global warming isn't real. *The above is a Cliff Notes version rant from the right wing of this board. Check out the scenes following 6:03, 8:35, 12:55, and 18:05 in this South Park episode. The point being, activists don't change the world by staging publicity stunts in which only like-minded people will participate, especially insofar as the only meaningful outcome is an uppity sense of self-importance and delusion. If you think that reducing electricity consumption by a fifth in Australia for an hour is going to have an appreciable effect on anything at all, ever, you're very much mistaken. FWIW, I'll give you a bit of advice that has gotten many people far in life. If you or groups with whom you affiliate intend to change the world, it is far more effective to bribe and/or blackmail some legislators. Btw, I'm no right wing sucker. I don't fall for that simplistic mode of thinking (right, left, right, left) is for lemmings, and I certainly hope that you recognize that. A better descriptor for me would merely be "right." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crunchtastic Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 What is wrong with raising awareness? Don't run the water when you brush your teeth or let it run for 20 minutes in the shower while you check your phone messages. Turn off lights in rooms in which they are not necessary.My mother did a very good job of raising awareness, although back then I think it was called 'being cheap'. Oh, the screeching, nagging sound of "do you think money grows on trees!!???" "electricity/water isn't free!!!!" if I left the water on or didn't turn the lights out. It did work, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KinkaidAlum Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 Again, I agree with you. Raising awareness is STUPID.If only those like-minded, uppity, self important people in the past had refused to raise awareness by staging protests, events, or fundraisers we'd still maybe have slavery, women without the right to vote, no idea of what causes AIDS, Germany and Japan running the world, asbestos in modern building materials, sewage systems that dump directly into our waterways, and more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNiche Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 Again, I agree with you. Raising awareness is STUPID.If only those like-minded, uppity, self important people in the past had refused to raise awareness by staging protests, events, or fundraisers we'd still maybe have slavery, women without the right to vote, no idea of what causes AIDS, Germany and Japan running the world, asbestos in modern building materials, sewage systems that dump directly into our waterways, and more.Yeah, and we also wouldn't have had prohibition, Richard Nixon, the KKK, and...wait a minute...without uppity self-important activists, we wouldn't have fought WW2!? I call BS on you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MidtownCoog Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 I spend most of my time raising awareness. Sherri Ann Ward Cabot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CDeb Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 Raising awareness? The only people who aren't AWARE of the horrible cataclysimic catastrophe of dire and devastating climate armageddon happen to be living in caves, and they don't use a whole lot of electricity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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