It is that time of the year again. The end of March marks as one of those days when the world unites to take care of Mother Earth and bring forth issues about the environment for Earth Hour. That one event that dedicates an entire hour in turning the lights off to minimize electricity use and, thus, carbon footprints.
For others, they go the extra mile by not just turning off their lights, but other appliances as well such as their computers, television sets, and cooling or heating systems. Anything to consume as less power as possible.
This could be a downer for some, especially to those who have lots of tasks and activities which are dependent on electricity. But are these activities really necessary? Or can’t we really pause or take a break from them even for just an hour?
This Earth Hour, we at Rocket Social would like to give you ideas on what you can do during an hour with less-to-no electricity. Who knows? You would enjoy this hour more than you thought you would. So stretch out those legs, feel the comfort of your environment, and enjoy the night with just the power of fun and enjoyment.
Take a Break from Social Media
One of the best things you could do during Earth Hour is to disconnect. Keep your phone away and take a break from social media.
Social media applications usually eat up a lot of your battery life and this defeats the purpose of decreasing your electricity consumption for the hour (or the day). You have a lot of other options to enjoy the rest of the night with the lights off and the rest of your appliances; you’ll see some of our suggestions below.
Plus, you don’t really need to post whatever you’re doing on social media, right? You don’t have to “brag” about observing Earth Hour.
Imagine how life was like before the internet, social media, or mobile phones. Take the fun outside and enjoy the hour or the rest of the evening as disconnected to social media (and electricity) as possible.
Invite Friends Over
One of the best things to do during Earth Hour is to call your friends over your house. If you really need to use electricity, might as well let as many friends come over so your total consumption will just be limited to your house and not, let’s say you have 10 friends then, 10 of them.
Bring everyone in and conserve energy. And while you’re at it, you can cook food for everyone and play some board or card games with everyone.
Fill the Air with Music
Forget about playing music through your phone or stereo. Play music raw and unplugged.
Grab that guitar, harmonica, tambourine, or even bongos! Play any instrument that you have and you know how to play. Create music, if you like; or if you don’t really compose that much, then play covers of your favorite songs.
Remember how it’s like to jam into live music? Have that fun and enjoyment right at your very homw.
Read a Book
You may think that this is not the best idea to do during Earth Hour (especially that all the lights are off). But hear us out.
In the olden days, and even in very rural or remote areas on Earth, they had/have no electricity. No light bulbs to light their homes – more so, to read. Imagine that huge sacrifice just to read a book? Whether that’s for pleasure or for education, reading without a light bulb isn’t as easy. But they can always get by with candles. We think you could do the same, too.
Light a candle which is bright enough that its light could fill the pages of your book and read on. On rare times that you’re away from your phone, it’s nice to do the things that you can do the old-fashioned way.
Stargaze
This one is for the romantics. Mostly. Let’s not limit stargazing to just couples; you can share this moment with friends, too.
Whether you’re out camping in the woods or a silent night by the shore, or even on your own backyard or down the fields, look up and enjoy the sky.
While all the lights are off, all the stars are also shining brightly for you.
Just cross your fingers that sky will be clear the entire time, though.
Have a Bonfire
Having a bonfire in the midst of a dark night is one great idea especially if you’re near the beach, in the woods, or even have enough space in your backyard to do so.
Just like the previous suggestions, you can play music with your friends and sing the night away or you can stargaze by the bonfire.
You can also go for your classic bonfire foods (yes, we’re thinking of smores!) and just take some time to sit down and chat with the people close to you.
It’s an intimate and enjoyable night, indeed.
Do Crafts by Recycling
If there’s one thing you can do to help the environment, that would be recycling or upcycling. To add more fun to it, you can create crafts with it alone or with your family and friends.
You can gather all your recyclables the day before and you can research for crafts you can do that you would also need. Whether you just want to make eco-bricks or house ornaments out of recycled materials, or totally create your own bag, it can help the environment by lessening waste.
You don’t only save the environment, you’re also creating something new you can use or sell – plus the fun and sense of accomplishment that comes with making it.
Participate in Advocacy Movements
The day will be filled with events for sure. And if you feel strongly of this advocacy, why don’t you go out and volunteer or attend these events?
Usually, organizations and establishments would put up an event where everyone can stay together for the entire hour, bring awareness about environmental issues and climate change, and light candles to brighten up the darkness.
Others would pair their advocacy with pledges from people, further environmental drive, plus music and food.
Now, who wouldn’t want to go to their events, right?
From Earth Hour to Earth Day, Every Day
Earth Hour is a great cause. It gives us a quick moment to look into how we affect the environment and appreciate the things that we could do without causing its demise. But should we stop until Earth Hour and be this environmentally vigilant?
An hour a year is not enough. If we really want to save Mother Earth, we have to do what we do during Earth Hour every hour of every day. It should be our daily habit to use less-to-zero plastic in a day, accumulate less waste, and follow the 4 R’s (reuse, reduce, recycle, repurpose).
Let’s all make sure that whatever we do, we do it in a way that it won’t hurt the environment. Because we all know… this is the only planet we got.
