Bored and loud.

Now don’t get me wrong, I fully support the idea of Earth Hour. Being able to plunge cities into darkness is a fantastic effort to raise awareness of how much electricity we actually use on a daily basis, and how much we can reduce it. Landmarks across the world will be dimmed and millions of houses will turn off their lights (sure), TVs (uh-oh), microwaves (what will we eat?!) and computers (Oh dear God help us, what is the world coming to?) for just one hour on Saturday night.

I’ve roped my house into participating in this. With there being 4 of us usually in on a Saturday night, there are laptops, a large TV, appliances left right and centre and the necessity for light so we don’t trip over the organised mess around the house (and don’t tell me we could just tidy it up!) So doing this will definitely make a difference, at least if only in our bill.

However, there was a report last year when this happened that power stations were actually using more power trying to support the lack of usage – they had to decrease the power they were supplying and by doing so, were using more. Something like that. So is this really the answer? One hour a year?

We need approach this in the same way we should approach a healthy lifestyle. No crash dieting, no week-long exercise binges followed by, ‘Well I deserved it’ pastries. Rather than a one hour switch off, we should be doing these things on a daily basis. Turning off the TV at the button (or even better, at the power-point), unplugging chargers that we’re not using and turning off lights when leaving a room. Doing this over long-term will surely provide greater help for the environment – a steady drop in the use of power. There’s all these stories emerging of celebrities who take cold showers, sold their cars and put out 2 carrier –bags of waste a week, but we don’t need to go that far to make a difference. Let’s be honest, in the middle of winter, that hot shower we’ll be having will be even sweeter knowing that because one person isn’t having one we can use twice as much hot water!! (I know, I know, that’s not how it works.) But if we all recycle what we can and perhaps get a compost bin if the garden will allow, then perhaps we won’t have to pay for that extra large rubbish bin from the council.

For the most part, I am a dirty little power-saving hippy. I turn off my power-points during the day when I’m out. I turn off my light whenever I leave the room. I take very short showers. I choose to use public transport when a car journey presents itself. However, sacrificing home comforts? Nuh uh. If we all do our little bit then those that do make an effort, won’t have to make their lives uncomfortable. And I can leave the light on when I go to get a drink in the middle of the night so I don’t trip over the stuff I left on the floor in the lounge.

So sure, take part in Earth Hour, but we have to do the little bits all year round, not just for an hour a year. For an idea of what to do, I think we’re playing Uno and poker by candlelight (or perhaps no light. That’d make it interesting!) Or maybe I’ll just go to bed, so that I can get up early the next morning and make the most of daylight.