Turn Out the Lights and Pedal Away

I’m getting ready to turn off my lights and grid power at 8:30 p.m. tonight, along with millions of others around the globe taking part in Earth Hour 2010. I love the visual nature of Earth Hour, the imagery of this time-zone by time-zone lights-out around the planet, this global wave of shadow and light. If enough of us turn enough things off, we can create a downward blip in power use that will show decision-makers we’re ready to conserve on a big scale. We’re taking personal steps to cut fossil fuel consumption and we want our reps take political steps, too.

Another cool thing going on this weekend is a Pedal-Powered Blogathon, a fundraiser for the Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage in Missouri. The blogathon will use a pedal-powered laptop, hooked up to a "Pedal-A-Watt" bicycle-powered generator. I just found out about this a few hours ago, and love the whole concept.

If you, too, like the idea of pedal-powered appliances, check out a book called The Human-Powered Home by Tamara Dean. It’s put out by New Society Publishers, also the publisher of Divorce Your Car! and many other terrific sustainability books. Real books, too – the kind you can read tonight as you’re celebrating Earth Hour, by candlelight or maybe even by the light of the nearly-full moon.