Earth Hour Can't Hold a Candle to Global Warming

Earth Hour is a global event where homes, work buildings and famous landmarks. Earth hour has reached the likes of Eiffel Tower Tower Bridge, Big Ben, Piccadilly Circus, the London Eye and the Las Vegas strip. But the question is does this event have any effect to the biggest problem facing our world’s future.

The Purpose of Earth Hour

To be clear Earth Hour is not specifically about saving energy as it is more about awareness of the problem. Even though the idea of Earth Hour isn’t bad I believe it is still gone about in the wrong way. The real problem in energy consumption isn’t households the real problem is business and public facilities like schools, hospitals, military etc. The best proof of this is a study from a 2008 study by Macutess Institute of Technology (Link Here) that showed the energy consumption of multiple classes of people from a Buddhist monk and a college student to a US senator and Multi - millionaire golf player. Both of them were using more than 10 times more than the Monk and college student. This proves that the biggest energy waste problems are not in common households, but in public spaces. The solution to this massive problem isn’t as simple as turning off a light or two at home it is to reduce energy consumption at public facilities and that is exactly what earth hour is contradicting.

Addressing Energy Consumption

As I have stated in my previous paragraph Earth Hour is done wrong and it really doesn’t make a difference to CO2 emissions. If we wanted to make a dent in this massive problem we would at least try to have restrictions on energy consumption in public area. Another possible solution to this problem is to have 365 Hearth Hours every year, but that solution is easier said than done with people literally not being able to live without the internet, air-conditioning, heaters etc. for more than 30 minutes. This would be the only way to have a considerable effect on the energy consumption scales.

The Flaws in Awareness Campaigns

In conclusion Earth Hour is a good idea that is flawed by many misconceptions and isn’t really making a difference in the problem of climate change. To really make a difference we need to take into account the energy consumption of public spaces and start adding restrictions to energy consumption.