British Columbians participating in Earth Hour on the weekend saved 136 megawatts of electricity. A token effort could be turned into meaningful change if Earth Hour came once a day, instead of just once a year.
Because of Vancouver鈥檚 green efforts, the city was named Earth Hour Capital by the World Wildlife Foundation, which originated the campaign. People shutting lights off from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Saturday reduced Vancouver鈥檚 power consumption by 2.4 per cent and Surrey鈥檚 by 1.8 per cent.
But Vancouver Island communities outshone the Lower Mainland cities, so to speak 鈥� Comox and Courtenay consumed almost 10 per cent less power during that hour.
During Earth Hour, British Columbians as a whole cut power consumption by 1.95 per cent. Imagine the results if everyone followed the example of Comox and Courtenay, and did it every day.
The purpose of Earth Hour, of course, is to bring attention to power consumption and create an attitude of conservation that will last throughout the year. As a society, we tend to be lavish with our use of electricity, consuming it in ways that go far beyond comfort and convenience. Those who participated in Earth Hour show that significant savings are possible without diminishing safety or quality of life.
Where lighting enhances safety, leave it. Where lighting is ornamental only, look for ways to reduce it or eliminate it. Turn off lights that aren鈥檛 needed.
We live in a high-tech world that depends on electricity, but that technology can help cut back on our use of electricity. For example, timers can be set to turn lights on at certain times for a set duration. Other equipment can monitor the use of electricity so we can adjust our habits to reduce consumption.
Appliances and gadgets generally consume far less electricity than they did in the past, but there are so many more of them. We take our electronic servants and toys so much for granted, it鈥檚 easy to forget that they must be fed.
Awareness is growing of 鈥渧ampire power鈥� 鈥� the use of electricity by devices that draw power 24 hours a day, even when we think they are turned off.
Many people leave cellphone charging units plugged in, even when the phones are completely recharged. When that happens, a trickle of electricity continues to flow into the charger.
If you want to get an idea of how much 鈥渧ampire power鈥� is being consumed in your home, turn the lights off, then count all the little green and red eyes peering at you from dark corners, all of them constantly lapping up electricity.
Natural Resources sa国际传媒 estimated that reducing the standby power consumption of all devices to one watt would save $341 million to $392 million a year in electricity bills.
It would defeat the purpose of some of the convenient features to unplug devices when they aren鈥檛 in use, but others can be unplugged without diminishing their functions.
sa国际传媒 Hydro鈥檚 meters show how much electricity is being used, but the ordinary person can鈥檛 tell at a glance what that means to the household budget.
If those meters were equipped with dollars-and-cents readouts, like gas pumps giving a running total, we would quickly find ways to be more frugal with the energy we use.
The quest for new and greener energy sources should continue, but meanwhile, each of us has the capability to reduce energy consumption in dozens of ways.
We should have an Earth Hour every day 鈥� it would be good for the budget as well as the environment.
