Earth Hour

From MSNBC: Cities are going dark for Earth Hour
By John Roach

Cities around the world are going dark on Saturday night for the annual Earth Hour event, which aims to raise awareness about actions people can take for the environment's sake.

The campaign, now in its fourth year, boasting participation of more than 4,000 cities in 131 countries and territories around the world. Hundreds of millions of people are expected to turn off their lights and other non-essential appliances for an hour beginning at 8:30 p.m. local time.

The symbolic act is expected to darken major landmarks around the world, including the Sydney Opera House in Australia, the Eiffel Tower in Paris and casinos on the Las Vegas Strip.

I personally think this is a fun publicity stunt, and I'm going along with it, but by itself, it's just a publicity stunt.

This year, though, the organizers of Earth Hour have added another feature, Beyond the Hour. There, the organizers tell readers, "This Earth Hour, go beyond the hour. Take action to make our world a better place and share your act with the world." A search function allows you to see which actions readers have rated as most popular, such as going meat-free, going trash-free, going on a plastic diet, and turning off lights when going out. The MSNBC article includes some more.

•Cut down on the use of plastics
•Convert your lawn to a vegetable garden
•Conserve water
•Ride a bike, take the bus, or walk instead of driving

I've already started on the second, as my wife and I planted a garden last year and plan on doing it again this year, and the fourth, as I walk everywhere I can. It helps that I love walking and live in a relatively walkable neighborhood. I'm going to add one more--keep writing this blog. It's the least a Crazy Eddie can do.

On a TANJit (another Niven reference), I present you with this meme.

My Liberal Identity

You are an Eco-Avenger, also known as an environmentalist or tree hugger. You believe in saving the planet from the clutches of air-fouling, oil-drilling, earth-raping conservative fossil fools.

Take the quiz at
About.com Political Humor

This works for me.