Turn off, tune in

Is Earth Hour – switching off non-essential lights, 8.30 - 9.30 pm in your time zone, Saturday 31 March 2012 – pointless?

Yes, if that's all you plan to do about the environment this year.

Earth Hour isn't about energy saving in itself; it's a symbollic, global gesture of support for the environment and positive actions to stop destructive climate change.

You can be cynical and scorn it, or you can turn off, chill out in the rare peaceful darkness, and tune in to “going beyond the Hour”: committing to real, planet-saving change. See EnviroHealth Tips for loads of ways how.

This year, celebrities, politicians and you and me are challenging each other to take environmental action with the “I will if you will” project. A sample of some of the more eccentric dares:

"I'll jump off a cliff if 1000 people go vegetarian"

"I'll get tattoo of a panda on my back if 10 000 people start recycling"

"I won't speak for two weeks if 1000 people go car-free for one week."

See WWF (Worldwide Fund for Nature) for more, or look up “Earth Hour” on Facebook or YouTube.

- Olivia Rose-Innes, EnviroHealth Editor, Health24, March 2012  

Previous Earth Hours on Health24:

Go beyond the hour – Earth Hour 2011

Sulking in the dark – Earth Hour 2010

Earth Hour 2009 – was it a success?

How South Africans celebrated Earth Hour 2009