Earth Hour Update

Originally I thought, "Oh I work for MLGW. I know all about saving energy. I don't need to participate in Earth Hour."

However, I didn't take into account that my husband reads this blog. Once he caught wind of Earth Hour, he eagerly signed us up.

So I changed my thinking to, "Eight O'clock on a Saturday night will be an easy time to go without using any electricity!"

We actually did it a few weeks ago when it snowed. Someone ran into a utility pole on Poplar, causing our lights (and heat!) to go out for about two hours on a Friday evening...but wait...we actually went out to a restaurant while the lights were out. When we came home they were back on.

Okay, so that didn't actually count.

I started thinking of ways it could be fun. All of the Earth Hour promo materials suggested watching the stars or reading stories by candlelight. However, I'm not sure if the promo people have small children like I do.

After attending an afternoon birthday party that stretched into the evening and making a late run to the grocery store, 8:00pm caught us a little off guard. My husband was cooking, I was doing laundry, the kids were watching a DVD...you get the picture.

However, at 8:30pm it was lights out.

Once I went around the house to turn them off, it really dawned on me how many were on unnecessarily. I left lights on in the laundry room, the bathroom, the hallway, the kids' room, my room, the kitchen...it was a little excessive.

The kids get scared to walk to the bathroom at night unless all of the lights are on and they also like to sleep with the hall light on. So, to avoid constantly escorting them to the bathroom and listening to them whimper in bed, I have obviously gotten out of the habit of turning the lights off.

Once we consciously turned them off, the difference was immediately noticeable. It was really dark!

Since it was cloudy, a little rainy, and the kids were tired from the birthday party, we didn't do anything special or "romantic." We all watched a movie together in the dark.

Yes, I realize this is technically cheating!! But even after the hour was up, we left the lights off. (Even the one in the hallway.)

And we did the same thing on Sunday.

Yes, I thought I was a big shot energy saver. I soon found out I wasn't. Thanks to Earth Hour, I'm going to try and do better.

How about you?