Tuesday, March 30, 2010

The Wheel of Change Spins in the Candlelight: Earth Hour 2010


Earth Hour was a success for us in the market square of downtown Kingston on Saturday! The KSC (Kingston Sustainability Centre) had a comprehensive, informative and fun display. Collectively, we who volunteered talked to about one hundred and fifty people! Featured was the Wheel of Change which prompted people to "take a turn for the better" by choosing an environmental challenge. Actions of great impact on an individual and community level were displayed on a corresponding info board. Steps ranged from one to three star level challenges from turning the water off while brushing your teeth to starting a community garden. Our categories of focus for this educational tool were waste, water, energy, transportation and of course - food! Talking to people, sharing and spreading in eco consciousness was an empowering and hopeful experience. People of all ages added these challenges to their already impressive plethora of environmental initiatives. It was a pleasure to see that the people of Kingston are making serious efforts to do their part in suport of sustainability. This was at least true of those who made it out to earth hour and turned off their lights and hopefully their power!

The evening itself consisted of accoustic and percussive entertainment and excellent performances by local artists while people shared an optimistic atmosphere of synergy. The moon and candlelights shone brightly and reflected the light in the darkness that the momentum of the current environmental movement represents. Another aspect of the KSC display involved a bike that converts human generated energy into electricity. To illustrate this we had people pedaling to turn on an energy efficient lightbulb. (below) It really was an illuminating method of showing how much effort and resources is actually needed for the smallest amount of energy use. This was yet another visible manifestation of how one person's force can account for alot of impact. Please use your personal power for environmental change!



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