Earth Hour

Earth Hour is on 28 March 2009 from 8:30pm to 9:30pm. This is the time when people are encouraged to switch off their lights in a bid to save electricity. Apparently, it met with some success in Singapore, with not just households but some big companies switching off the lights of their office buildings during that period of time.

But should eco efforts be limited to only these specific events? Or should it be something that we do in our daily lives? After all, I would think that this effort is nothing if it doesn't instill in people the need to limit their use of electricity but switching off unnecessary appliances and lights.

In the past, I would leave the lights on in my room when I go to the living room. Now, I have managed to kick that habit with the help of my wife. In our house, the only lights that are switched on are those in the rooms that we are currently in. We have very few appliances that are on standby mode... even the DVD player is switched on (at the mains) only when we want to use it. Our electricity bills shows that for the same household size, our electricity consumption is way below the national average (so is our water consumption, but gas consumption is about average or slightly above, since we actually cook our meals most of the time).

So I hope people do learn from this little event to realise that they can do their bit for the environment, and save a little money as well.