Earth Hour

[Prometheus The Supremo]

Anyone else predicting a sudden spike in the number of births nine months from now?

Lessee... things you can do in the dark...

nah, that was an urban legend.

but i do predict that more people mis-aimed for the toilet during that hour than any other hour.

 

[Kitsune]

It seemed like no one at City Place had there lights off - even the recreation centers of those buildings had all there lights on. At Maple Leaf Quay we where asked to turn off the lights, and most did, but some didnt. And residents pay there own hydro here too...

 

[unimaginative2]

In a Cityplace building, we turned off our lights (Why not?) and there were notices all over the elevators about Earth Hour.

 

[TKTKTK]

I love the idea behind these 'across the globe' moments, but I thought this one was kinda lame. Raising awareness for global warming by turning off our lights for an hour? Is anyone now aware of global warming that wasn't aware of it before?

I worry that these kinds of events make us feel better about our normal levels of consumption, rather than encouraging us to be more efficient. You know, "I'm not part of the problem, I turned off my lights for an hour."

I know, I know, I'm a spoilsport. It's all I could think about the whole Earth Hour though.

 

[junction_parents]

still, i liked it a lot more when the blackout occured a couple of years ago.

same here

 

[MetroMan]

It was quite embarassing on Queen St.

I was working on my laptop at Starbucks when I realized it was about to hit 8pm. I shut off my laptop, pondered on ordering another coffee and going for a walk.... but look at that: Starbucks kept on every single light. I skipped the coffee and went on my walk.

All along Queen St., there were tons of empty art galleries with their lights on. The construction site on CAMH with nobody inside: all lights brightly on.

I eventually made it to Queen and Bathurst, saw the Pizza Pizza on the corner and realized how bright it is in there. They have lights everywhere!

So TKTKTK, I'm sure this event caused people to question how much power they use or in my case, how much unessential power others use.

I had my first dark moment when passing by the burned down buildings on Queen & Bathurst. It's usually dark there anyway. Not having light from Dukes and the other retailers there made it darker... but then again, it's been like that every day since Feb. 20.

The CityTV/Rogers building was most lit up as well. Weren't they actively promoting this event? Bunch of hypocrites.

I nearly gave up on Toronto's participation of Earth hour and cringed every time I saw a helicopter wizz by. All I could think was.. "wow... the rest of the world is seeing Toronto's embarassing (non)participation of Earth Hour".

When I was getting close to University, I began to see the hoards of people leaving the NPS concert and noticed the Hilton had all their lights off except for a strategic few which spelled "60" in the windows along their north façade. Clever.

Nathan Philips Square was the place where it was truly truly pitch black dark. I didn't see the concert. I'm beginning to wonder how they performed a concert like that.

For next year, I think that they should get local business improvement groups on board so that they may ask their members to turn off their store lights.
We need to make it fun. Take some pointers from Nuit Blache. Have free events around the city which would encourage people to leave their homes and turn off their lights.

Also, there should be a bigger organization in Toronto that would move this event forward, rather than relying on a central organization that seems to be doing it worldwide.

It seems chillingly obvious that this was organized from an organization south of the equator. It's summer in Australia. People go out and enjoy the blackness of the city. In Toronto, people were freezing their asses off, and likely raising their thermostats.

End of April, beginning of May would be a better time to do this event worldwide as it's a median weather period for the entire globe.

 

[TKTKTK]

I dunno, I'm not sure that the end message was about nonessential power so much as nonessential light. The two aren't linked in the same way any longer, so we probably shouldn't rely on that simple association.

Linking environmentalism with inconvenience seems dangerous. The people who happily shut off their lights aren't the people we need to convince, it's the people who already think being eco-friendly means living in the dark with no luxuries that we should be trying to reach. Making those people live in the dark with no luxuries seems unlikely to make them rethink their stance.

Real accomplishments, like the CN Tower's new illumination using only 10% of its previous lighting system's energy use, are lost by lumping everything together as Light=waste.

I think the Holiday Inn almost points to how we should use an event like this in the future. It's not about turning off lights, necessarily, it's getting the message of conservation and environmentalism across. Maybe our towers should have been turned into giant bar-graphs on energy use - comparing incandescent to fluorescent to LED.

 

[scarberiankhatru]

I cheated: I turned the lights back on for a minute or two at 8:03.

I agree with TKTKTK: the people who'd turn their lights off when told are the same people who turn their lights off, anyway. Earth Hour organizers may have been, essentially, wasting their efforts.

 

[smuncky]

It was quite embarassing on Queen St.

Nathan Philips Square was the place where it was truly truly pitch black dark. I didn't see the concert. I'm beginning to wonder how they performed a concert like that.

they powered the event with bullfrog which is a 100% green electricity.

Bullfrog

also, when i was there, you could smell a lot of weed around you which was amusing.

 

[Tuscani01]

The CityTV/Rogers building was most lit up as well. Weren't they actively promoting this event? Bunch of hypocrites.

I dont think Rogers/City owns the building anymore. Their new HQ at Dundas Square was dark though.

 

[lxmoss]

In a Cityplace building, we turned off our lights (Why not?) and there were notices all over the elevators about Earth Hour.

I am in a cityplace building as well and i left my lights on (because i was working from home) however all of my lights are low-wattage (3w) LEDs.

 

[MetroMan]

So LEDs are really becoming something real in homes huh?

I remember when I switched all my bulbs to CFL's 4 years ago, I was dreaming about switching to LEDs instead. They were way too expensive and not bright enough for home.

I guess once my CFL's begin to burn out, I'll get LEDs to replace them.

 

[299 bloor call control.]

From most of the skyline shots, the biggest emitter of light was the most vacant building - the u/c RBC Centre. They had thing lit up brighter than Dundas Square!

 

[urbandreamer]

Looking back on this media-staged event (I didn't even know about the event until I glanced at google news the same day), I believe it was designed to see how many people could be controlled by media hype: about 10%.

I'm a libertarian and will not stand for such nonsense!

 

[299 bloor call control.]

Two other Earth Hour notes:

1) Calgary participated and their skyline dimmed considerably... but yet for some reason... their energy use shot up during the hour.

2) Harper is an asshole:

Harper snubs Earth Hour
Mar 30, 2008 04:30 AM
Allan Woods

Thanks to its place of prominence in the capital, 24 Sussex Dr., the Prime Minister's residence, is always easy to spot. As Ottawa went dark last night for Earth Hour, it was even easier.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper's lights stayed on.
The ever-illuminated Peace Tower on Parliament Hill went black at the stroke of 8 p.m., as did the lighted "Canada" signs that adorn federal buildings in the capital.
Stornoway, official residence of Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion, was almost impossible to find among the mansions in Ottawa's upscale Rockliffe neighbourhood. Dion, a former environment minister, even delivered a speech by candlelight in Toronto to a gala dinner recognizing Greek independence.
Rideau Hall, home to Governor General Michaëlle Jean, was dark and federal Environment Minister John Baird was at his Nepean home "with the lights off, of course," said spokesperson Eric Richer.
But two ground-floor rooms in Harper's house stayed on and inquiries to a PMO spokesperson were not returned. The third-floor offices on Parliament Hill that house the Prime Minister's Office were also among the few lights that stayed on, prompting a jeer from a handful of Green Party activists who had gathered in the cold to mark the occasion.