When faced with the idea of turning all the power off in your home or in rez, people kind of run away. The idea seems somehow terrifying and boring all at the same time. So we came up with (but mostly Googled) some ways to participate in Earth Hour without sitting in the dark and doing nothing for a hour *Please keep in mind that candles are not allowed in the residences at uOttawa and can be substituted by a flashlight or a electric candle. 1. Have in indoor picnic. Put a blanket on the floor, have a friend or two over, light some candles* and dig into some good finger foods. Chilling with friends and lots of food? Nothing better! 2. Host a movie night. This one is not going full 0 power but still pretty close. My floor and the floor below us in residence are having one for earth hour so that the only power used will be the tv, but all our rooms are powered down. 3. Sketch in the dark, then compare with friends when the lights come back on. Lots of fun and you might even...

It’s that time of year again, the time of year when friends and family get together and celebrate simpler times. So often we find ourselves so consumed in our busy lives that we forget what this time of the year is really about, what every time of the year should be about: energy conservation. This Saturday March 23 from 8:00 to 9:00 pm Earth Hour will once again be upon us, and we here at UOttawa will be turning off the lights, in conjunctions with people and organizations around the world in the collective efforts to draw attention to the need for energy conservation. So here is a list of things you can do this earth hour (in no particular order), while your lights are off 10- Build an epic blanket fort (in hopes that it maybe as awesome as this one ( video )  9- Candle light games night 8- Candle light dinner with that special someone 7- Make and launch your own aerial luminary ( article ) 6- Glow in the dark nerf gun fight with your roomates (be careful of furni...

I get a lot of people asking about both Earth Day and Earth Hour. There is a consensus.... Earth Day is better than Earth Hour. The problem is I just don't believe it. Earth Day is a great day. It was started in 1970 and was famously chosen to be on April 22nd, which was incidentally the birthday of the lead ad agency guy. It was immense and did lead to some very important environmental reforms in the United States and subsequently Canada. It is widely celebrated but recently it has not reached the popularity it enjoyed in the early 70's. Earth Hour is a one hour celebration that asks people from around the world to turn off their lights for one hour as a symbolic gesture demonstrating that we can all play a role in helping the Earth. The problem with Earth Hour is that the event is so small that people tend to diminish the importance of the event. "Oh yeah.... one hour eh? How the hell is that going to help the planet?" So which one is better? Neither, they ...

Earth hour approacheth! And as I’m being bombarded by Facebook events inviting me to attend this great event, I’m starting to wonder exactly how we can all get involved. The event was created in hopes of creating awareness about climate change across the world. With roots in Australia, the event has spread throughout the globe to 128 countries and territories and has expected further turnout this year. The typical participation of this event includes the simple action of turning off your lights for one hour to reduce energy consumption and promote energy conservation. Although this event is only celebrated once a year, there is a lot you can do to save your money and the planet year-round. -Flick off the lights when they are not in use -Turn down the heat five degrees when you go to bed, and wear sweaters on cold days instead of turning the heat up -Crack a window in the summer instead of jumping to air conditioning or those heavy duty energy gobbling fans -Unplug ALL appliances when ...