Were you in the dark last Saturday night?
If you weren't, you were among the minority, as thousands of British Columbians helped drop the province's electricity load by 1.04 per cent during Earth Hour.
According to BC Hydro, from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. on March 27, residents across the province saved 64.6 megawatt hours of electricity - the equivalent of turning off about 1.4 million lights. Not all data was calculated from every community in the province, but one number was collected from Gibsons, where the electrical load was lowered by 2.8 per cent: not the best in the province - that distinction goes to Burns Lake at seven per cent - but certainly not bad.
If residents of B.C. implemented the same conservation measures just one hour every evening that they practised so well last Saturday night, the combined savings, according to BC Hydro, would be enough to power close to 2,200 homes for an entire year. That's a staggering number and one to certainly take to heart.
Earth Hour has become an annual global event hosted by the World Wildlife Fund. BC Hydro sponsors the event provincially and encourages residents to show their support for the fight against climate change. So why wait for Earth Hour in March 2011? Why not put some of these energy saving practices into place now? It's pretty simple. Shut off your computer when it's not in use, keep lights on in your home only when necessary, wash your clothes in cold water, turn off the heated-dry function on your dishwasher, or turn down the heat by one degree. If you're cold, grab a blanket. Let's face it, it's more fun to snuggle that way on the sofa while watching your favourite television program anyway.
BC Hydro has other great tips at www.bchydro.com. Earth Hour can become something that we can all get behind 24/7, 365 days a year, not just for one hour, one day a year. If we want to fight climate change and encourage a better future for our planet and ourselves, it's the right thing to do.
