Earth Hour: Mississauga

Colour me disappointed.

During Earth Hour (8pm-9pm), we went for a walk near my old neighbourhood (north up Tomken, then east along Bloor); I was so deflated to see a tonne of cars on the road and lights blazing in all the apartment complexes. In my home, there were candles burning in the bathroom and kitchen, my computer and alarm clock were unplugged... and people couldn't even stop watching TV for an hour? Oh, what's the point! In the face of such apathy, I feel like there's no point in even caring about this doomed marble we call home.

I was struck by how much more we could do using existing technologies (replacing sodium-vapour lamps with LEDs, recyclable Tim Hortons cups, compost bins for apartments, etc) that we just don't bother with. I feel like such a naive freak with my reusable coffee cup and grocery bags, my insistence on Tupperware over ziploc bags, my searching out of garbage cans over spitting my gum out on the street. Does any of it really make a difference when half a million people undo all your work? It's so easy to become cynical and jaded. Waiting for the lights at Tomken and Bloor, I was fuming.

Then I saw it: a hand-made sign on the northeast corner taped to the pole with the crosswalk button. In obvious grade-school writing, red marker on white paper, it said: "Save some of the planet for me. Celebrate Earth Hour at 8pm on Saturday." Such a simple little sign. I wish I'd had my camera. It made me feel less like a loser about actually giving a shit.