The Longest Hour

earth hour for me started on friday, 1.15pm when m2 reminded me to switch off the lights on sat. on the actual day and as the magic hour draws near, we were reminded every 10 minutes, starting from 6.30pm. m2 can't tell time yet and she didn't believe us (when we said it wasn't time yet) so, she pestered us to turn off the lights over and over again. then, at 8.15pm, m1 and m2 turn on the cartoon. when the clock struck 8.30pm, we turned off the tv, m2 started protesting.

anyway, lights off, candles out. it was blowing out candles time that lasted the whole hour until 9.30pm. mama and kakak had to keep relighting the candles and there a lot of candles in different locations. can you visualize the chaos?! after the lights came back on, m1 cried for more candle blowing action so, we had to lit another round of candles for the rascals to blow out.

saving the earth..it was hot, humid and the kids made a fine mess of the candle situation. dear mother earth, alternative source of energy will you please, and make it unrelated to any kind of fire element that can be blown out.

Earth Hour

since it's going to be earth hour this month, thought i give my 2 bits on the subject..

we, humans, are consumers at heart. we consume our planet till it's having a nervous breakdown...deplete its resources, expel too much waste, it's no wonder there's a hole in the ozone. our forest are gone. it's hot during monsoon, rain during dry season,..we consume so much that there isn't enough supply to sustain our appetite. that's why we have genetically modified food, cows on steroids and chickens that don't sleep.

what can we do to make this planet better? by looking at our own individual consumption patterns and make little changes. consume only what we need not what we want. simple enough concept but, not easy for us, the urbanites, the ultimate consumers, to implement.

even now with the current global recession. governments around the world are looking at stimulating 'consumption' to boost their economies. we've to consume in order to sustain growth, so we don't lose our jobs...ironic isn't it?

switch off the electricity when not in use, don't over order food, recycle your paper, don't use plastic bags, etc. i don't know...just do something!Anything!

i'm not the poster boy for saving the world. i still have my guilty pleasures (alot of them) but, do what we can. not for ourselves but, for our children and the generations to come.

check out www.earthhour.org,http://earth911.com