So how did you spend Earth Hour? I actually didn't shut down John's server as I had threatened, as we host several websites on it and he wasn't confident it would come up properly, but we did shut off all the lights and I powered down my laptop and monitor. I thought about unplugging the fridge which would have been okay as long as the door stayed closed for the hour, but didn't in the end. I feel there was much more that we could have done, however, it was still a fun activity and got us both thinking about energy conservation.

I lit a whole bunch of candles and set up the latest game that we play together (we're big into MayFair's Train Games) - the Settlers of Catan card game version. It's specifically for 2 players and although it has the same elements as the original Settlers of Catan, there is definitely a different strategy to playing.

I don't have any pictures of the city of Guelph during Earth Hour, but found plenty of pictures of the Toronto skyline. The one below is a panoramic taken by luxography and he notes:

"Although most of the city continues to be lit (the sky glow to the northeast stands out in particular), there are some noteworthy participants visible here: the CN Tower, the Rogers Centre, the Fairmont Royal York, Yonge-Dundas Square, and the ClearChannel billboards along the Gardiner Expressway (sorry, Rick Mercer!). The Bank of Montreal and TD Canada Trust also turned off their rooftop beacons."

Click on the photo to go to the original page, where you can view a larger version.

Now although this is all nice and warm and fuzzy, there have been some critics that say it's all for naught - that an event like Earth Hour, despite the efforts of millions of people, doesn't make a significant impact. My colleague, Rodney, forwarded an interesting paper written by David Solomon from the University of Chicago where he analyzes the impact of last year's Earth Hour in Sydney, Australia. That may be, however, I choose to believe that an event like Earth Hour brings the issues to the forefront and at least gets people thinking and talking. That in itself is a pretty significant impact.

So regardless, I'll leave you all with nice, warm, fuzzy thoughts.

Happy Earth Hour 2008!

I hope you were able to participate and that, if nothing else, Earth Hour got you thinking about conserving energy.