After Earth Hour - what now?

Okay, so now many of you turned off your lights on Saturday. It made us feel like we participated in something big, as this was a global event. Well, I don't know about you, but both my teenage daughter and I felt this way. It's so amazing to watch pictures of official buildings all around the world going black, but watching all the lights coming from my many neighbours, made me a bit disappointed.

So, after Earth Hour, what now? Do these actions have an effect? And if they do, what is the effect? We haven't saved the environment yet, and certainly not by turning off a few lights for an hour. So what was Earth Hour good for? I've read somewhere that some scientists claim this event was totally meaningless, that the climate crisis will not be solved by only turning off the lights for one hour. Some people even claim that we release more Co2 by lighting candles than we do with the electric lights. I've also heard people say that they never participate in events like this, because they don't like others telling them what to do. Well, all of this is a little beside the point, isn't it? I thought that the point with Earth Hour was to make more people a little more aware of the environment and the climate, not to solve this crisis right away.

Well, I know I'm getting better at turning off unnecessary light at home. Most of the time I have no choice, as my daughter keeps reminding me to do so. And we had a very nice time together last Saturday, playing board games in the candle light. Perhaps we should have an Earth Hour every Saturday?