Earth Hour 2008...
Seems to be mostly a symbolic gesture. Turn off your exterior and interior lights for an hour, then turn them back on. A Time article about whether this matters is at
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1725947,00.html?cnn=yes
It would make more sense if unnecessary exterior lights on buildings were turned off permanently. I can think of any of a number of tall buildings, mostly offices, that could benefit their power bills by removing architectural lighting other than aircraft warning lights.
It would also make sense if more people could replace some of their incandescent light bulbs with fluorescent or even LED bulbs. I recently replaced the bulbs in a ceiling fan in my apartment with fluorescent bulbs. The fluorescents draw a quarter of the power of the bulbs they replaced, and they'll last a lot longer than incandescents. Don't give me the "omigod mercury" thing either, there's about a microgram of mercury in each bulb, and the phosphors are more of a problem than the mercury.
I have an ulterior motive about cutting down excess lighting. I have a modestly priced telescope. If less light is wasted, I can see the stars, planets and galaxies. But then, so can you. How long has it been since you've been able to see the stars on a clear night? How many of you have seen the Milky Way on a clear night? It's wonderful.
Discuss, please.
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1725947,00.html?cnn=yes
It would make more sense if unnecessary exterior lights on buildings were turned off permanently. I can think of any of a number of tall buildings, mostly offices, that could benefit their power bills by removing architectural lighting other than aircraft warning lights.
It would also make sense if more people could replace some of their incandescent light bulbs with fluorescent or even LED bulbs. I recently replaced the bulbs in a ceiling fan in my apartment with fluorescent bulbs. The fluorescents draw a quarter of the power of the bulbs they replaced, and they'll last a lot longer than incandescents. Don't give me the "omigod mercury" thing either, there's about a microgram of mercury in each bulb, and the phosphors are more of a problem than the mercury.
I have an ulterior motive about cutting down excess lighting. I have a modestly priced telescope. If less light is wasted, I can see the stars, planets and galaxies. But then, so can you. How long has it been since you've been able to see the stars on a clear night? How many of you have seen the Milky Way on a clear night? It's wonderful.
Discuss, please.