Earth Hour 2008 - Lights out.

This morning A~ informed me that Earth Hour 2008 was scheduled for tonight. We found out about it too late the last time it happened and we missed it. So this year, we planned ahead of time to spend that time in the dark. Or at least without electric light. So tonight from 8-9:00 pm Mountain time we went "Lights out". The kids weren't necessarily looking forward to it, but we plied them with cookies and games. We put a few candles out on the table, took out the scattergories game and had some of A~'s very tasty no-bake chocolate cookies. (See even the snacks saved energy!)

We all noted that it was funny how trained we were; we kept instinctively starting for the lights for this or that. Even when I went to take this picture. Even though I had taken out the tripod so that I could take a no-flash picture in low light without blur, I still went for the light. We never turned it on though, and we had a great time. After the 9:00 hour had passed, we kept the lights out for a bit and just talked. We talked about school and choices, and about what the kids thought about the Earth Hour experiment. They had a great time and are wanting to do it more often. I suggested doing it at least once a month, but they thought once a week would be better. We'll see I guess, but either way we'll certainly do it again.

We also talked about what it must've been like before electricity, and I got to thinking. Wouldn't this type of exercise get us more prepared for events like blackouts or unexpected catastrophes? It's similar to the idea of living for a week or month from food storage to get a better idea of the things you don't think about, and makes obvious the areas where you are lacking in skill.

Did any of you also participate in the Earth Hour 2008 event? If so I'd love to hear what you did, and what you thought of it.

Till tomorrow.
P~