Earth Hour, Do Indians Need Such an Hour?

So the Earth Hour came and passed by, making very little difference to me as I went through the grind of having to adjust with unscheduled power cuts in a city like Bangalore.

It was a week before the scheduled ‘voluntary’ power shutdown for an hour that I noticed how big the event was made out to be. Billboards sprung up at strategic points asking citizens to do their part in saving the Earth. I even saw Aamir Khan (my favourite actor) encouraging me through the leafs of newspaper to do my bit. But when the moment came (on 29th March, at 8.30 pm) I was praying hard that the power supply company BESCOM doesn’t 'enforce' Earth Hour by cutting off the power, and play a spoil sport for our dinner party.

Sorry Aamir Khan, I didn’t join you in your mission, sorry Australians and Parisians, I did not join you from my country for that one hour. But hey don’t forget the ‘sacrifice’ we are made to give during the innumerable hours every week due to unscheduled power cuts.

We experience Earth Hour almost everyday between 8am to 9.30am and then again at 7.30 pm to 8.30 pm. Do they enjoy such an Earth Hour in Australia, France, Chicago or Bangkok? How many of the children there have to study for their exams in candle lights every night? How many women in those nations go through childbirth in darkness? How many hospitals in these countries turn down patients due to non-availability of power or a generator?

The way I see it Earth Hour is just another glamorous way of ‘making a difference’. Yea, yea, it gives the progressive society stalwarts the satisfaction of saying "See I care for the world" but it is merely a drop in the ocean. Earth Hour is a concept for the Developed Nations, please spare the developing nations such as India.

Who is to answer for the amount of electricity already spent for making the billboards? What about the power and money spent behind the huge baloon floaters used to advertise Earth Hour? What about the live telecast hours and money spent in talking about Earth Hour? Who knows what statistics that may run into. I only wish the means of creating awareness about such an event should have been simpler and devoid of extravagant spending. After all Save Energy, Save planet, that's the idea right?

And why restrict the act of saving the Earth to just one hour out of 8760 hours in a year, when we can do our bit every day?

So here’s what you can do if you missed the Earth Hour by a candle.

• Switch off the geyser in your bathroom after 10-15 min. trust me the water will remain hot for a long time.
• Replace all your old incandescent (yellow illumination) bulbs with CFL and LED lights, these bulbs are four times and 10 times more efficient respectively.
• When TV is off, switch off the mains as well, this will help you save 20% of your monthly bill.
• Wipe off your hands with a tissue instead of using a hand dryer.
• Switch off your PC monitor when you leave your desk for more than 5 minutes. A monitor consumes 30% of your monthly bill.
• Go for a candle-light dinner once a week.
• If you own a restaurant try using LED lighting instead of fancy spotlights. They look more charming and save more power.
• Protest against the numerous billboards that your city keeps adding which are multiplying the usage of floodlighting required to light them up.

Ok I admit that I am guilty of not following at least 30% of the points above, but I am willing to go the extra mile beyond Earth Hour to make a difference. I do hope that others who joined Earth Hour also keep the momentum going beyond the 29th of March.
No more quick-fix solutions, climate change needs more practical actions.