Today I received an email from WWF NZ regarding earth hour this year being on Saturday 29th March.  We won’t be participating.

For us, one hour a year is completely pointless.  Instead we aim to do this every hour of every day.

From the WWF NZ website –

Some ideas to consider!
• Go car-free one day a week
• Switch to energy-efficient light bulbs
• Turn unneeded appliances off at the wall
• Buy local (but think global!)

We already do all this and more –

We typically bike to work, only driving if its raining or very icy – and its two of us sharing a ride if we do – we only own one car.

We have had energy-efficient light bulbs for years – most evenings we sit without the lights on, as we watch TV – besides, the neighbours light up their entire house 24/7 so we use their light.

We turn off unused appliances at the wall.

We buy fruit and vegetables from the local green grocers and I read packaging in the supermarket aiming to buy locally where possible.  We have a vegetable garden and grow some produce ourselves.

We are also vegetarian which lowers our footprint on the planet.

We reduce, reuse and recycle where possible.

Much of our furniture is second hand, as is much of my clothing.

We don’t waste food by using our leftovers creatively.

We wash our laundry in cold water, always wait for a full load before we run a load through and then line dry our washing – we don’t have a tumble dryer.

We don’t have a fan or airconditioner for the summer. In winter, we only heat the room we are in, and only during only the coldest months  of winter.  For the rest of the year, if cool, a fleece blanket is used to keep warm when we are watching TV or reading.

This all seems like it makes good sense, both for the planet and for my bank balance.  Why throw away money?