In 2007, the Aussies convinced a lot of their citizens to turn off their lights for just one hour. Now in it’s fifth occurrence, the “Earth Hour” is international with 145 countries and 1 billion people expected to participate. However, even that symbolic act isn’t enough to change behavior.
The Earth Hour movement is leveraging the iPhone to get at least some of those billion to carry conscious living beyond 9:30p tonight, when the hour of sacrificing electricity for 60 minutes is over. The “60+” app treats sustainable actions like FourSquare treats locations, allowing you to check-in when you accomplish one of their 25 suggested environment-saving behaviors:
- Choose sustainable seafood
- Decline a shark-fin soup at dinner
- Set the air-con at 24 C or higher
- Sun-dry your clothes instead of using an electric dryer
- Use natural lighting wherever possible
- Use a fan instead of air-conditioning
- Go vegetarian for a day
- Remove electrical appliances from the socket when not in use
- Turn off your lights for 1 minute
- Turn your lights off for Earth Hour
- Take part in the Earth Hour 2011 Candle Walk
- Take a picture of yourself in the dark and upload it as your Facebook profile
- Recycle 1 can
- Donate your old clothes to charity
- Bring your own chopsticks
- Recycle Paper
- Buy locally produced fruits and veggies
- Ride a bike to work
- Organise a carpool or taxi-sharing system
- Wash your dishes by hand
- Fix leaky taps
- Install low-flow showerheads
- Collect rainwater to water your plants
- Take shorter showers
- Use the half-flush on your toilet
In addition, there are dozens of tips given for how you can further change behavior to save resources.
The application is quite beautiful to look at, with a recycled cardboard theme and nifty icons. It integrates with Facebook, although I was surprised none of my friends there had this app. The app keeps a running total of actions performed since February 3, which as I type is only at 12,823. Even so, I find the information contained in this app useful both as a reminder and as a teaching aid.
Our Earth Hour will be tested: My eldest is having a friend over to watch a movie. I don’t know what the timing is, but it may be a hard sell to unplug under those circumstances. I’m hoping Carter finds some ways for us to survive those sixty minutes and help me appease my conscience for a little while. I will be using 60+ beyond today’s symbolic campaign.