It’s time to appreciate what we have: Earth Hour

By Natsumi Oye [Current Events Bureau Chief]

Earth Hour has come and gone, and hopefully, left us all a little more conscious about the environment.

For those of you who don’t know, and so probably didn’t participate, Earth Hour happened on Sat. Mar. 27th, at 8:30 p.m. At this time, for one hour, millions of people all over the world turned off their lights at home and at work, as a statement against climate change. This movement started out in Australia in 2007, and has since spread worldwide, with hundreds of millions of people in 4,000 cities of 88 countries participating in 2009.

Landmarks have also participated in the hour, including Sydney Harbour Bridge, The CN Tower, The Golden Gate Bridge and Rome’s Colosseum, according to earthhour.org. The World Wildlife Fund is in charge of Earth Hour, and had hoped to have one billion people participate this year, reported the Vancouver Sun.

Not everyone is a believer in climate change though. Some people are still stuck in their old ways, refusing to admit that we need to change the way that we deal with climate change and how we think about the environment. Regardless of whether or not climate change is happening to the point where the environment will be destroyed a lot sooner than anyone cares to have happen, there is no getting around the fact that we need to get back to some more natural roots. It is a pretty safe assumption that the majority of students attending university deal with technology during a major chunk of their days. Whether it is a computer or a cell phone or an iPod, technology and electricity are used in abundance in our everyday lives.

So why not take an hour out of your day, one day a year, and turn off the lights? How about going one further and turning your cell phone and computer off and put your iPod and other gadgets away and have a conversation with someone close to you that doesn’t involve one of you tapping away on Facebook trying to sustain multiple conversations with multiple people at once, while the other one pecks annoyingly away at their cell phone, texting someone sitting in the next room.

Taking a stand against climate change is what Earth Hour is officially about, but it can also be about treating nature with respect. It can be about existing just a little bit more naturally than we normally do. It can be about just turning off all the lights and taking a break from the urgency and quick pace of everyday life. The majority of us can stand to live our lives a little more naturally, with a little more appreciation for the world’s natural state. Here in the Greater Vancouver area we live in one of the most beautiful places in the world. It’s about time we started appreciating it.