Earth Hour 2010

Let’s see a show of hands—how many of you participated in last year’s Earth Hour, an hour of time during which people all over the world turned off their lights and electric overall and sat in quiet comfort with their families, contemplating the environmental woes we face as a society and sitting in solidarity with other Earth Hour Celebrants?

That many? Wow, I’m impressed!

In all seriousness, though, Earth Hour is a pretty nifty event sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund that you might want to take part in. The goal of Earth Hour, besides what’s listed above, is to raise attention regarding climate change around the world to global leaders, governments, corporate heads, and the international community as a whole.

This year’s Earth Hour will be held on Saturday, March 27 at 8:30 PM. Last year, over a billion people participated, making it the largest single action by people in history!

This year, a handful of national monuments are also taking part—Mount Rushmore, the Golden Gate Bridge, and the Empire State Building are all going to go dark for Earth Hour. That’s pretty awesome—but so is the Las Vegas Strip! When I read that, I had to read it again—it’s just too cool. If the city that never sleeps can participate, local neighborhoods around the world should have no problem taking part, too.

To take part, just turn your lights off for an hour. Do what I did—pen it in your planner right now. (I used my blue pen—I use blue for my activism and volunteer stuff—but any color will work just dandy.) Make plans now to not spend any energy during that full hour to participate in what is sure to be the biggest mass action in history—again! Spread the word through family and friends, and instead of making plans to go out, make plans to…

• Snack by candlelight
• Snuggle and watch the stars
• Tell scary stories with your children
• Play hide and seek in the dark
• Paint yourselves in glow-in-the-dark paint, grab some drums, and dance around (or pour the paint ONTO the drums and beat them like crazy)
• Do each other’s makeup in the dark
• Break out those glow sticks you’ve been saving for a rainy day
• Camp out in the backyard
• Go to bed early

For more ideas about how to participate or to get an action toolkit to help promote Earth Hour, visit MyEarthHour.org.