An idea we can get behind for the next Earth Hour: stop driving
Image by Hyperactive. Licensed under Creative Commons license 2.0.
Earth Day is coming up in a few weeks, but we got a glimpse of the latest in global eco-consciousness with Sunday's Earth Hour, a one hour voluntary shutdown of as many electronics as possible. Apparently, about 300,000 people around the world declared their intention to reduce their energy needs for a while and 380 cities participated as well. In Toronto, the electricity use dropped by around 9 percent for the hour. It was a fine idea, but did they have to schedule it right during the Simpsons?
Our friends at Green Daily approved of Earth Hour as a good symbolic act and have a suggestion that the next Earth Hour be marked by a call to stop driving. While there are some difficulties with this idea (who's to stop you from just waiting an hour before making your drive), I'm a big fan of getting people to actively contemplate reducing dependence on gasoline-powered vehicles. Still, something tells me that, should a one-hour moratorium on driving gain some traction, all the hot rodders in the world will be revving up their engines with glee as soon as the rest of us give cars a rest. Empty streets will just be too tempting. Oh, well.
[Source: Green Daily]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
James Bowe 9:17PM (3/31/2008)
Are you serious Sebastion? You really think enough people could ever get together for a worthy cause to notice such a profound impact? The 'hot-rodders' would come out? I don't know man, maybe if police departments sign on.
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James Bowe 9:20PM (3/31/2008)
on the positive side, let's do it. But forget 1 hour. Take the whole day off driving, give your computer and flat screen a break. Go for a run, read a book. Go to a rally, plant a tree. Let's go carbon negative for 1 day. BTW - May 16th is national bike to work day...spy out bikeMonth.com
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snerdley 9:58AM (4/01/2008)
Thanks for the heads up. I am usually a very thrifty person because that is what I can afford, but I will be taking the hour in question to turn on everything I have and then go for a drive just for fun. The BS is getting too thick even for windshield wipers.
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kevin 7:39PM (4/01/2008)
Hey i think being a little optomistic is not to bad . But sometimes there are just those who say nay and refuse to partake in events such as these.
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