At 8:30 PM on Saturday 26th March 2011, lights will switch off around the globe for Earth Hour and people will commit to actions that go beyond the hour.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon leads a host of world and civic leaders supporting Earth Hour 2011 as a powerful symbol of a shared wish for a sustainable and secure future.  His message is:

“Use 60 minutes of darkness to help the world see the light”

Hundreds of millions of people across the globe are expected to switch off their lights tomorrow, so join us!

Earth Hour more often

Make Earth Hour happen more often at your home. Switch off not only lights, also gadgets and all electrical appliances (leave the fridge on ), at least several times during the year.  Here are some fun activities that don’t need electricity and the whole family can take part in:

• dinner by candlelight
• pretend camping under the stars (or even real one)
• story telling by candlelight
• make hand shadow puppets
• buy solar powered lamps and torches
• take a night time walk
• look at the stars (less lights on, more stars to see)
• play games
• make paper lanterns

For more info about Earth Hour go to http://www.earthhour.org

Kids Earth Hour web page: http://www.earthhourkids.org

In a week time on Saturday 27 March 2010 at 8.30pm, millions of people from around the world will join together for Earth Hour™.

Turning off the lights says we care about planet Earth and we want others to care too.

Earth Hour History

Earth Hour started in Sydney, Australia in 2007. Approximately 2.2 million people and 2,100 businesses took part in the first year.

In 2008, Earth Hour involved between 50 and 100 million  people  in  370  cities  and  towns  around  the  world,  including  Chicago, Toronto, Copenhagen, Dublin, Atlanta and Bangkok took part.

An independent survey found that 58 per cent of people in Australian capital cities joined in by switching off their lights.

In 2009, the concept truly went global, with Earth Hour triggering people to “switch off” all over the world – from the Eiffel Tower in Paris to Times Square in New York. Millions of people in over 4,000 towns and municipalities in 88 countries took part.

2009 was also an important year for the UN climate negotiations. In December 2009, world leaders and climate negotiators gathered at UN climate talks in Copenhagen to agree to a deal to follow the Kyoto Protocol, which Australia ratified in 2007.  (Source http://www.earthhour.org.au/earth-hour-wwf/earth-hour-history)

What can you do

• Turn off the lights! For one hour on Saturday, 27 March 2010, 8.30 PM.
• Register your commitment. Go to www.earthhour.org.au for Australia or go to www.earthhour.org and choose your country.  Tracking the number of people participating helps show how many of us care.
• Get together on the night. Gather friends, family and neighbours to enjoy the hour of “lights out”.
• Spread the word.  Everyone does their little bit to spread the word trough Internet, Social Media, local newspaper, email, noticeboards…

For more ideas on how to take part go to http://www.earthhour.org.au/what-you-can-do

Getting solar power system at your home is more affordable today than 10 years ago. In fact, many state governments are currently offering tax rebates to persons that choose to convert to solar energy.

With the information available about renewable energy technology it is possible to build a solar power system on your own.

Here are seven benefits of building your own solar power system:

1. Cut your electricity costs
Save hundreds of dollars a month… and thousands of dollars a year… for the rest of your life…

2. Save the planet for our kids
Help our environment and maybe more and more people will follow us in supporting the future of Earth…

3. Have fun
Have a lot of fun in building your own solar power system. It could be done for under $200. You can do it with your close friends and family during a week-end and everyone will enjoy it…

4. Be independent
Go completely off-grid if you want, knowing that rising energy prices will not affect you…

5. Earn money
Make the electricity company pay you, because the surplus of what you produce will make the meter go the other way, in case you want to stay on-grid…

6. Minimal maintenance
There is minimal or no maintenance costs. Solar power systems are virtually maintenance free and will last for decades. They operate silently, have no moving parts and do not require you to add any fuel.

7. Increased value of your home
When you install your renewable energy system in your home you will increase the value of your home by thousands!

Remember that converting to solar power system is an investment and you will reap the rewards over time. And, don’t forget the pride you will have with reducing your carbon footprint by converting to solar power energy.

Got any “building solar power systems” tips you’d like to share with us? Please do so in the comments!

We all learned about the renewable and non-renewable sources of energy in school. However, we never paid much attention to the rapid consumption of the non-renewable sources of energy until recently. The world is faced with severe energy crisis now and none of us remain unaffected anymore. Should we leave everything to the governments, or can we do something to save power? The answer is simple: we can.

Let us look at how you can save power at home.

Computer: More often than not, we do not switch off our monitors even after we have shut down our computers. Keep the monitor and the computer switched off when you are not using them. Start practicing this even when at work. You will help save some more power for the world.

Light bulbs: You must have seen compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs being advertised all the time. You must have even used them at times. As a power-saving measure, start using the CFL light bulbs as much as you can. If you are thinking they are more expensive than the regular bulbs, the benefits of the CFL bulbs will prove much more cost-effective in the long turn by the amount of power they will save.

Air Conditioner: Set the temperature at the minimum or maximum best you are comfortable with, depending on the season. Try not to set it at too high or too low temperatures. Setting the air conditioner at reasonable temperatures helps save a lot of energy.

Washing Machines: Do you use your washing machine as often as you want? Do you use your washing machine even when there are not enough clothes to wash? Minimize the number of washes by washing full load of clothes every time.

Television: Take off the power plug of your television set when not using it. This may not sound a big deal but this tiny step will help save power.

Geysers: Keep the geyser thermostat at the minimum heat. You do not need to heat the water at a very high temperature or for too long.

Refrigerator: Bring hot food to room temperatures before putting it into the refrigerator. You can also save power by taking cold or frozen food out of the refrigerator much before the mealtime, thereby saving power in heating it.

Car: For an air-conditioner equipped car, pull up the windows of your car before switching on the air-conditioner.

Make power at home with solar and wind energy to eliminate your power bill. Get our complete guide here.

If you have any “save power at home” tips, please share in comments belove.

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