What Waterloo Region Record readers did for Earth Hour

Played Yahtzee

My daughters and I had planned that we would play Yahtzee by candlelight from 8 to 9 pm, Saturday night during Earth Hour.

We thoroughly enjoyed the quiet time and kept the lights off well into the evening.

— Marta Doucet, New Hamburg

In the bath

We spent the hour in the bathroom! The children had their bath by candlelight, and we talked about the need to conserve our earth's resources and use only what we need.

The bonus was the children were so relaxed thanks to bath and candlelight that they went right to sleep at 9pm. I think I may make this a family saturday night ritual!

— Susan Maciaczyk, Kitchener

Dim but vivid

I walked home from work, past the ambiently lit Kitchener City Hall crowd.  The evening sky was pleasantly more blue than I remembered. When I got home, my wife and I talked by candlelight, until nine o'clock came, and it was time to plug in the grill and finish making
dinner.  We continued with the candles through dinner, and if the night was dim, it was nonetheless vivid.

— Dan Wright, Waterloo

Disconnected from the grid

On Saturday March 29th at exactly 8:00 p.m. we  disconnected from the grid, I took it upon myself to head into the basement  and flip the breaker switch. Candles where lit and the family sat in the living room listening to the strum of a guitar. It was a unique moment that we  would consider repeating on a regular basis.

— Matthew Szedetzki

Time for friends

Met with friends and played board games by candle light.

— Pauline Richards, Waterloo

Scrabble and marshmallows

My kids and I played Scrabble and toasted marshmallows over the candles.  It was so much fun we talked about doing it more often.

— Sarah Coles, Kitchener

Free from distractions

I would like to think that we 'celebrated' earth hour quite wonderfully. After a day of weekend chores and projects, it seemed almost natural to turn off all the lights and distractions (TV, stereo, appliances etc), light many candles, and enjoy a grilled
dinner with a nice glass of wine. What a great time to enjoy our project progression, and each other. It was a little disappointing looking around to see how many of our neighbours were not recognizing the hour.

— Jennifer Brown and Bruce Aitken, Waterloo

Walked through the neighbourhood

What my family did for Earth Hour was we took a walk around the neighbourhood observing those houses with lights on and off.  For the houses with their lights off we postulated whether they were observing Earth Hour or whether they were just not home.   Unfortunately there were more people we absolutely knew were home, unless of course they were out AND had their lights on.

Also, sadly, we stopped in a Tim Hortons for a coffee.  Sitting at "Tims" we were talking about Earth Hour and I was watching vehicle after vehicle pass through the drive-through, not fully realizing the irony of this.

I propose that for the next Earth Hour businesses which have a drive through should close it for the hour.   I do realize that the 1 hour of "darkness" is really more of a symbol than a hard scientific attempt to save power, so this gesture would go along way in spreading
the word; Google's idea was innovative.

— Jason Annis, Waterloo

It's about conserving energy every day

We had a low-key night – playing cards by candlelight with our children who are 10 and 8. We explained to them that Earth Hour is not about the energy saved in that hour but about raising awareness of energy conservation in every day life. Making changes with the little
things – turning off lights, powering down the computer – is the first step to making a difference.

The biggest disappointment for our family last night was the Orthodox Christian Reformed Church located two doors away on West River Road in Cambridge. The parking lot lights were blazing all evening! Being in the country, you would expect to be exposed to less artificial light.

Unfortunately, due to their outdoor lights, the surrounding area is lit up brightly throughout the entire night, every night.

— Lynn Woeller

Remember to remind neighbours

My family was over for dinner last night and all participated in Earth Hour. We turned off every light in the  house, including our computers and outdoor lighting. Only one other of our neighbours did the same thing so we were a little disappointed that they did not participate. Guess we will fill them in so they remember to do it next year. What a wonderful ideas we should all do this once or twice a month it would make such a difference.

— Dave & Brenda  Tsawwassen BC

Relaxing, quality time

We simply enjoyed each others company with drawing pictures and writing lessons. My 4 yrs old son really enjoy the dark cause he could use the flashlight to go anywhere he wanted in the apartment. It was a time of relaxing and spending quality time. What's wrong with that, maybe we will keep the tradition going on doing a one night on a weekly basis.

—  Jeanne & Jacob, Kitchener

Thinks Earth Hour is nonsense

i did absolutely nothing kept my lights on.. as I dont care for this kind of nonsense or hog wash as we called it back in the old days.. to me its ridiculous stupid etc.. if people cared so much about our planet earth then they should have thought about it decades ago not now.. its way to late to clean up this planet we live on now. I wont be doing anything for the next thing that comes up either .. again nonsense & stupidity..

— Cathy Cullipher, Kitchener

Comments

[The Handley-Hendrikse Family]

Stars, Cards and Candles!

Our family (my husband, our two sons, aged 12 and 13 and I) had a wonderful evening enjoying earth hour.

We went for a nice long walk in our neighbourhood (45 min) and ran into several folks along the way doing the same thing. It was such a beautiful and clear sky that night so we were able to spy many stars and constellations along the way.

When we arrived back home, we decided to tumble around in the snow and gaze at the stars again. Once inside, we lit some candles and proceeded to play a rousing game of Five Crowns. We had so much fun that we even forgot the lights were off! I guess our competitive spirit is green too :)

We talked long and hard into the night about their future (and their children's future) on this planet. Although we try to be as much of a *greensmart* family as we can, we have pledged to have an earth hour each Saturday night for the next year.

Congrats to all who particpated - I appreciate you thinking of our family's future as well as your own.

Well done Canada!

Jeff, Carrie, Liam and Nate