~ not earth hour ~

28 March 2009

so, i’m one of those people who refused to participate in the Earth Hour thing. it’s not that i don’t believe in this whole “green” thing.

in fact, i think i’ve been living rather “green” everyday. i use fan instead of air conditioner (no AC installed in the house). i walk or take public transportation instead of owning a private car. i line-dry our clothes instead of using a dryer. i wash dishes by hand and not using a dish-washer. our home’s average electricity consumption is only 10 kWh/day. i turn off the shower when i shampoo my hair… etc, etc, etc…

my problem with Earth Hour is that it gives an illusion to people that they have already done their part in trying to “save” the mother earth by turning off their lights one hour every year. then what happen with the other 8759 hours?

the guy who’s been boasting about Earth Hour in my twitter will drive his souped up car that consume gas like a thirsty sponge tomorrow. or everyday, even.

even though large corporations turned off their lights for an hour a year, the malls and offices that belong to these corporations will still turn on the AC to the point where people have to wear tights and sweaters in this tropical country.

that defeats the point of saving Gaia, don’t you think? now this Earth Hour thing, with all the advertisement (on TV, on bus stop, on the bus itself, it’s practically everywhere), starts to look more like a gimmick or a hollow hype.

it’s just like Valentine’s day and the argument against it: to make a difference, love should be shared everyday, not just one day a year. same thing: to make a difference, living excessively should be avoided everyday, not just one hour a year.

~ comment (6) ~

ya, lebih baik setiap hari mengurangi pemakaian energi ya.
kita juga dirumah udah lama melakukan hal ini.
lebih bagus re-use apa recycle thal?
gue suka nyimpen barang2 yang kemungkinan di kemudian hari bisa digunakan.

godote | 29 March 2009 - 06:24 | reply

iya, gue juga mikirnya gitu… emang di jakarta udah ada program recycle? kalo disini sih, kebetulan ada. tapi kayaknya sih, mendingan berusaha re-use barang2 kali ya? imho, lebih efektif, dan ga tergantung program2 dari pemerintah.

thalia | 30 March 2009 - 04:31 | reply

could not agree with you more…

nasha | 30 March 2009 - 07:14 | reply

Living green all year definitely trumps living green only one hour a year. It’s silly really!

Reese | 31 March 2009 - 05:35 | reply

Sorry but I don’t think Earth Hour gives any illusion to most people. I’d like to believe most people who celebrate Earth Hour do right by the environment year round. It’s just a time for everyone who does care to join together. And I mean, if large corporations are willing to turn off their lights for an hour, it’s better than none at all. It’s a foot in the door at the least. Maybe it’ll start them on becoming greener. Maybe not, but if not, we’re not any worse than before. Like arguments for Valentines or any Holiday for that matter. I think most people do right most of the year, but it’s nice to have a day as a friendly reminder in our busy lives. And if you can’t or don’t want to celebrate, its no big deal, but if you can, GREAT! and you know what, Who cares if that dude on twitter only did it for that one hour. 1 extra hour is better than nothing!

clark | 31 March 2009 - 03:26 | reply

and I was just thinking, I’d be damn happy if I could just get all my friends and all the companies I’ve worked for to celebrate Earth Hour. If they could care enough to do just one hour,If I could hype it enough so they’d just do that one hour, who knows, maybe, just maybe, they’d realize it is just that easy. Maybe they’d start recycling, carpooling more, turning lights off more often. Big things happen in small steps.

clark | 31 March 2009 - 04:28 | reply