The last Earth Hour I celebrated with my family, we pulled out the candles and played a board game outside with a fire. I often look back at that night with fond memories, the time we all put our phones down and turned off the lights. It reminded me to appreciate what I had. And the added bonus was getting my family to pay attention to the game.
This year I have no idea how many people I can rope into enjoying the darkness (no candles on campus!) with me, but my aim is to take a blanket out and have a picnic within walking distance – I’m talking Mimosas, chips and dip, and maybe some dessert too.
So why am I doing this? Climate change is impacting our society and turning off my lights and taking a hard look at how often I contribute daily to this increasing problem is a way of reminding myself to be humble and to not waste my technology or transportation usage.
Earth Hour is a full event, with millions of participants worldwide; and on March 26th this year, at 8:30pm local time time, we are all doing something to minimise our environmental impact. Some people change to solar power, choose a less harmful type of transportation, or turn off the lights.
It’s a united stand in the name of our environment, and turning off for one hour is a small sacrifice to make; the only thing I am really giving up is an hour of my Netflix time. So I would encourage anyone and everyone on or off campus to turn the lights off from 8:30pm to 9:30pm. Try and get your friends and or family to do it with you! It’s a great opportunity to bond with the people around you and do some self reflecting, either by yourself or as a group.
For information on what Charles Sturt is doing to contribute to a sustainable future, and how you can get involved, head to: www.csu.edu.au/sustainability.
Written by Bria Aplin
