Earth Hour, 2009

Earth HourWell, there is nothing for it. I have to plug Earth Hour on my blog. If only to improve upon my percieved sincerity for those of you who read or will read the article in today's Star Phoenix.

Betty Ann hooked me up with the reporter who did the story. She seemed to think that I was doing somebody a favour, but I feel that I am the one who benefitted. The hour that I spent talking to the reporter was quite enjoyable and a good opportunity to continue to reflect on some of the lifestyle choices that many of us have been wrestling with over the last days, weeks, and years.

I am only advocating for Earth Hour because it is an avenue for self-reflection. How much will your life be changed by turning off your lights for an hour? Not at all. I don't really care if you "believe" in global warming. This issue trancends the concept. For me it is about wanting and having less. Using what we need and no more. Enjoying your loves -- be they people or activities, or things -- and dispensing with that which cost much and gives little.


Don't grimace, I'm convincing myself here. I struggle with the desire (especially for new tech) on a daily basis as well as for many other frivolous things. In January, I joined the pact with my brothers not to purchase anything new that can be had used and to not purchase anything at all that I don't need. Tricky word, 'need,' as we all know, but a fundamental one that I must continue to analyse. The pact (for my part) is going well. The simple solution I've found is to stop going into Futureshop and Home Depot. Goodbye 90% of my pointless spending.

So, whether you sign up for Earth Hour or not. Maybe just join me in taking an hour to think about what makes you happy. Grab a beer, or glass of wine, or cup of organic/fairtrade coffee, light some candles, and turn off the lights.

Comments

and then the_doctor said…
My mom brought the article to my attention first. I think it resonated with her own early family years. Back then it wasn't environmentally expedient, they just couldn't afford much and time was more valuable than things. She liked the fact that it was a simple story not of an extreme lifestyle like you live off $50 a year or something sensational, but just how living the way you do is probably a good way to live for Many reasons.
2:26 pm
captainorange said…
Funny how many people read the paper. Must be a thing that 'grown-ups' do.

You know, I tried to get some blatant Quest refrences into the article, but he didn't bite :)
5:28 pm
Vincent Diakuw said…
The pact (for my part) is going well. The simple solution I've found is to stop going into Futureshop and Home Depot. Goodbye 90% of my pointless spending.

As with all Will tests, creating a no-fail environment reduces the Difficulty Class by 10 points, easy.
7:01 pm
Ian said…
I (mostly) concur on the minimalist lifestyle. In terms of buying new stuff, I clearly like to buy tech stuff:) I doubt I'll stop, but my usual metric is to only get something if I genuinely believe I'll use it a lot. I actually think I'm pretty successful at that overall (especially given the pressure to spend with my job. I'm quite consciencous of it).

I also don't mind buying stuff if I'm better off with it. For example, we just got a new dishwasher with the goal of using less water than washing by hand. It uses $25 of power a year and keeps on recycling water, until the "dirt sensor" passes a certain threshold. I love it when better tech corresponds with better for the environment, and in this case, more lazy:) I was willing to wash the dishes by hand, but less work is just a pleasant side-effect.

Another thing is I feel essentially no guilt about is buying stuff that is purely digital. I love buying music online and software online. It's a great way to spend my money with a negligible impact to the environment. And enjoying those before would require packaging, and delivery from afar. I'm very much looking forward to replacing paper altogether as well. The phone already helps a lot with that. But definitely not entirely. I go through a lot of paper for my job. I "simulate" being paperless for some things by placing scanners strategically around everywhere so I can get the side-effects of better organization, search, and less clutter. But there is still that missing, well-crafted device, that will allow to read and annotate, and buy books, articles, etc.. But I suspect I'll be entirely paperless for my personal and work life within a few years.

Altogether, if we wait a few more years, I think technology and convergence will essentially collapse our needs to a few devices and we'll be good to go.
8:19 am
captainorange said…
@Ian - I agree with you about the digital purchases, although for me there is often a nagging feeling associated with not having a physical thing when I´ve spent my money (say Sony yanks PlayStation support and I lose all my DLC). Probably the vestiges of me not being a true ´digital native´.

I am jealous of your dishwasher, though. I think my old one, which I just repaired, uses something like $25/load.
9:06 am
Ian said…
I definitely agree with the trepidation about DRM. For music, that has been solved now, and iTunes has eliminated it. Between my two computers, my phone, and the hourly backups on both my computers, I'm not worried about losing it:) But I definitely felt a queasy feeling buying music with DRM, and it sharply cut the amount I bought. Now I'm free-wheeling.

Unfortunately, it will take different industries a while to figure out the right model. I don't mind DRM so long as it is providing a service to me in return for the DRM. An example is iTunes movie rentals. The DRM is enforcing the rental model, and I know I've only got a couple of days to watch it. And, actually, I like the DRM on the iPhone as well. This is debatable, but I think it has been overwhelmingly good for the platform. People are buying software again, small developers are making money for the first time ever, and as a result, there are more developers, more apps, and the cost of the software is able to stay relatively low.

For books, we'll see. It will take a while to figure it out. But it would suck to "buy" a book, with DRM. But I wouldn't mind "renting" a book, akin to the library, as long as the price is low. There would be no illusions that I own it.
9:24 am
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