lihu‘e — With only 6 percent of the moon illuminated tonight, it will be a nice night to take the dog for a walk, and that’s exactly what Glenn Sato, energy coordinator for the Kaua‘i County Office of Economic Development,
lihu‘e — With only 6 percent of the moon illuminated tonight, it will be a nice night to take the dog for a walk, and that’s exactly what Glenn Sato, energy coordinator for the Kaua‘i County Office of Economic Development, will be doing.
Sato and his family have decided to participate in Earth Hour 2009, a global initiative towards a sustainable future created by the World Wide Fund For Nature. People all over the world, and here in Kaua‘i, have committed to switching off the lights for one hour beginning at 8:30 p.m., local time.
Toni Keahiolalo, director of fun at The Sheraton Kauai Resort, said they are sending voicemail messages — instead of printing 400 copies of a letter — to guests encouraging them to support Earth Hour by shutting off all or most of the lights in their room for the hour. The Point restaurant will be having candlelight cocktails.
Po‘ipu resident Chris Murphy is rallying Kaua‘i residents and businesses to switch off their lights.
“If you want to have positive things happen in the world you have to be part of the change,” Murphy said.
As of press time, 84 countries and 2,848 towns and municipalities — including Kaua‘i County — are participating in Earth Hour. The event began 2007 in Sydney, Australia, where over 2 million homes and businesses shut their lights off for one hour, the Earth Hour Web site states. It’s grown into a yearly event held the final Saturday in March, and last year’s participants numbered 50 million worldwide.
Mayor Bernard Carvalho is encouraging Kaua‘i residents to participate by turning off their nonessential lights and appliances during the designated hour. He’s also instructed county department heads to ensure that all nonessential lights, computers and printers are turned off in county facilities over the weekend.
“Although the negative impacts of global warming from greenhouse gas emissions have been well-documented, more needs to be done to heighten the awareness on this issue. If people around the world did their part, it would definitely help to slow climate change,” Mayor Carvalho said in a press release.
Some of the major cities joining Earth Hour include Bangkok, Chicago, Hong Kong, Istanbul, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, London, Manila, Mexico City, New York City, Paris, Singapore, Sydney and Toronto.
On O‘ahu, 20 members of the Rebuild Hawai‘i Consortium, the State’s official networking group for public, private, and nonprofit sector collaboration on energy and resource efficiency, have agreed to participate in Earth Hour, a Rebuild Hawai‘i press release states. Rebuild Hawai‘i members, include the City and County of Honolulu, and the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism’s Hawai‘i State Energy Office.
Ted Peck, energy administrator of the DBEDT Hawai‘i State Energy Office, and a founding partner of the Rebuild Hawai‘i Consortium, said Earth Hour and Earth day are important because they raise conservation awareness.
“It’s not the turning off of the lights that saves one-eight thousandth of our power, it’s keeping visible the need for people to do it,” Peck said.
“Beyond the savings, it’s the impact to our society and the ‘aina … People spend energy like they breathe: They don’t think about it.”
Peck said the objectives of Hawai‘i’s Clean Energy Initiative, a plan to end Hawai‘i’s almost 90 percent dependency on fossil fuels and meet 70 percent of state’s energy needs with clean energy by 2030, include clean electricity targets of 40 percent renewable energy and 30 percent energy efficiency.
“Efficiency means hundreds of thousands of people each doing different things,” Peck said, and Earth Hour falls into the efficiency category.
The March electricity rate for Kaua‘i residents is 23 cents per kilowatt-hour, and although on a local level, the total savings Kaua‘i would see as a result of Earth Hour would be hard to quantify, said Ray Mierta, Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative energy services supervisor, worldwide he estimated savings would be significant.
“It raises awareness and gives people something very easy to do and allows people to make a difference on a global scale,” Mierta said.
The goal of Earth Hour 2009 is to collect “votes” — a vote is counted for “Earth” if a person switches their lights off on Saturday, and counted for “global warming” if a person leaves the lights on — and present the vote count at the United Nations Global Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen Dec. 7-18, 2009. Earth Hour organizers hope to have one billion votes for Earth.
Ways to reduce
energy usage
Hot Water
• Heating water hotter than 120 degrees is expensive and dangerous. Set your water heater thermostats at 120 degrees.
• A solar water heater will provide up to 90 percent of your hot water needs. Call KIUC at 246-8280 to find out about zero interest loans and $800 rebates for solar water heating.
• Anytime that you are going to be away from home for two or more days, turn your electric water heater off at the breaker switch.
Laundry
• Electric clothes drying may be convenient but it is also very expensive. It costs over a dollar for a 40-minute cycle. Consider hanging your clothes out to dry in the warm Kaua‘i sun.
• It cost over a dollar to wash a load of laundry in hot water. Cold water washes cost only about eight cents per load.
Lighting
• Compact fluorescent bulbs use 90 percent less electricity than standard bulbs. Replace you “high use” incandescent light bulbs with energy saving compact fluorescent bulbs.
• Turn lights off when not in use.
Appliances
• Remove second refrigerators and save money. One new energy efficient refrigerator will give you the same convenience as two older models, at less cost.
• Look for the Energy Star label when making your next appliance purchase. It is you assurance that you are buying the most efficient appliance.
information supplied by KIUC
Ways to spend Earth Hour
• Attend a local Earth Hour event or organize your own by throwing an Earth Hour street party with your neighbors.
• Gather family and friends for a night picnic in your local park and look at the stars.
• Enjoy a family dinner by candlelight.
• Organize a treasure hunt in the dark.
•Take the dog for a night walk.
• Have a candle-lit bath.
• Sit in the dark and share stories.
•Share a romantic night in with your loved one.
• Upload your ‘on the night’ photos and videos to the Earth Hour flickr group and the global YouTube Group.
Information provided
by earthhour.org
For more information about Earth Hour, visit www.earthhour.org
• Ellen Edmands, writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 241) or eedmands@kauaipubco.com
