A consortium of French environmental groups called L’Alliance pour la Planète / The Alliance for the Planet are calling for as many people as possible to turn out their lights and shut off all electrical appliances for 5 minutes today. This action is meant to acknowledge the UN report on global climate change set to be released in Paris on Feb 1. Read on:
…between 1.55 pm and 2.00 pm in New York, 18.55 for London, and 19.55 for Paris, Bruxelles, and Italy. 1.55 pm in Ottawa, 10.55am on the Pacific Coast of North America.
This is not just about saving 5 minutes worth of electricity; this is about getting the attention of the media, politicians, and ourselves. Five minutes of electrical down time for the planet: this does not take long, and costs nothing, and will show all political leaders that global warming is an issue that needs to come first and foremost in
political debate.
Update: Did anyone else try this? I did but failed miserably. It did show me how hard it is to turn everything off. I knew up-front that the fridge would have to stay on and that our heating is electric-baseboard. I had to go to an appointment just before the slotted time and as I was walking across the street, looked up and saw that I had forgot to turn the fluorescent plant lights off!
Hi G,
I unplug the microwave every time we finish using it. It drives Pierre crazy.
I do it because we hardly use the stupid thing and it is best left unplugged.