Wednesday, April 01, 2009

Another Year, Another Earth Hour

Another year, another Earth Hour, another farce. Shame on you, David Miller, for thinking that flicking a big-ass light switch and then having a concert using amps and flashy lights at Nathan Phillips Square counts as celebrating Earth Hour! And not only did you do that this year, you also pulled this same stunt last year! What the hell?

In some ways, I don't blame the folks who protested Earth Hour by keeping their lights on. But then again, I think that they're a bunch of dumb-asses and aren't doing anyone any favors. The planet still suffers in silence. They're no better than people who boycott an election by not voting because they don't like the candidates. All politicians suck, but some suck more than others. (It's a different story when you're boycotting an election where it's just one guy running. Then more power to you!)

I don't agree with how publicized Earth Hour has gotten and how people are just jumping on the bandwagon to look cool, but I still opted in. I figured that one hour of not turning on lights and appliances like my oven, dishwasher, or dryer is still better than nothing. It's still not that much, when you consider that we all have a bunch of appliances on in standby mode, like our TVs, DVD players, VCRs, alarm clocks, and routers. So it was lights out, but not really electricity out.

We're addicted to electricity, which is fine, except that our electricity comes from very Earth-unfriendly sources. Turning the lights out for just ONE HOUR was probably fine for most people who participated because it was one hour out of ONE YEAR. No biggie, right? Well, why can't we celebrate Earth Hour every day? Why do we have to wait for it to roll around once a year to sprinkle the planet with our good intentions and then flick on all of our lights and appliances once it's done? It's because doing it once a year is no biggie. Doing it every day just gets in the way of daily life. When will the dishes get done? When will the wash get done?

Unfortunately, as humans, we are far too concerned with convenience. Disposable diapers are more convenient than cloth diapers. Using a dryer is more convenient than using a clothes line. I'm guilty of it too. But then, we (that includes me too) need to stop and take a moment to look around us. Everything may APPEAR to be okay, but our planet is sick. It is dying. It is like the cancer patient who looks fine but is full of malignant tumors inside. What's the point of having children if we're leaving them a crap-ass planet for them to live in? We're the lucky ones. We get to live this cushy life and die before it all goes to hell. Our kids though, they get to inherit the burden. Fun.

Earth Hour? Yeah, cute little idea, but how about we make it really count?

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