Earth Hour strikes once a year, when overwhelming peer pressure forces you to abandon the loving glow of your television and comforting buzz of your incandescent light bulbs. If you tend to be green-minded, it’s a time to put ethics into action and turn off the lights to turn up awareness of climate change.
Well technically, all Earth Hour requires is to turn off non-essential lights for an hour. But that seems a little too easy. And boring. So here are some suggestions to take Earth Hour to the next level.
Disclaimer: Some of these ideas may not be entirely in line with the intentions of Earth Hour. For example, lighting up your neighbourhood with tiki torches (see Blackout Block Party) might negate any environmental benefits of turning out your lights. And maybe Earth Hour is supposed to be a slightly sombre affair, a time to reflect on how your being too lazy to turn off the bathroom light is making trouble for polar bears.
But who doesn’t love an excuse for a quirky night by candlelight? Nobody I know, so read on for ideas to turn Earth Hour into a night to remember.
Living Room/Backyard Campout
Depending on where you find yourself in this fine country, March 31 can still be hit or miss as far as the weather goes. So if a backyard campout sounds unreasonable, you can still pitch a tent inside.
To upgrade this living room campout, collect every cushion in the house and build what can either be a personal sanatorium or an upholstered igloo.
Of course, it doesn’t have the same feel if you can just flick on the lights when something rustles in the night, so you'll need some flashlights to look around. And why not make the kitchen out of bounds and reclaim your hunter/forager instincts by setting up a survival scavenger hunt around the house. Hide fruit and cans of beans. When it’s time to cook, toss a couple burgers and potatoes on the camp stove out in the garage.
Preparation:
Some good stories
Flashlights and beef jerky
A songbook and ukulele
Marshmallows roasted by candlelight
