Food cooked and eaten in semi-darkness tastes better. Dinner was more relaxed than usual because no one was in a hurry to get back to the TV or computer. But the important thing here, and the topic of this article, was the dinner conversation. We had failed to explain Earth Hour to my daughter prior to the lights going out so she was understandably curious about why we were doing this.
We talked about fossil fuels and how it is likely that we will run out in her lifetime. We talked about the urgent need to find alternatives. We talked about nuclear power which led to a brief history lesson about Three Mile Island and Chernobyl. We talked about solar power and wind farms. We talked about conserving energy every day and what she can do to make a difference every day.
We also talked about global warming, drowning polar bears, and how global warming could in reality lead to an ice age.
Then the talk turned to another movement going on, to consume only locally grown foods, and how difficult that would actually be.
No night without power is complete without talking about how Laura lived. We talked about how Laura's mom would have been cooking on a wood stove and how they would have already eaten dinner before it got dark and would have gone to bed when it got dark. We talked about how Pa smoked the meat to preserve it since they had no refrigerators. We talked about how they might have gotten sugar since sugar cane doesn't grow around here. We will have to research that now that the power is on again because I don't know the answer.
In all, we raised more questions than we answered and will have plenty of material for homeschool projects for a long time.
We ended up leaving the power off for more than an hour. We talked about so many things that I've forgotten to mention half of them. And my daughter wants to have Earth Hour every week now.
So I guess Earth Hour did make a difference, just not the one I was expecting.
recommend this
email
print
link to this page
Comments: 28
This sounds like a HUGE success!
My guess about the sugar - it would come from the South with traders.
I'll join and do that now, Flit
We even went to Laura Ingalls Wilder's house in Mansfield last summer.
When you do your research on sugar look up sugar beets. That is actually a more common source of sugar in some parts than sugar cane.
I grew up with the smell from the local sugar beet refinery wafting over our neighborhood when the wind was blowing in the right direction... foul smell but certainly better than smelling the pig farms on a muggy summer day!
www.gotthenac.org
They do it here from May through October and I did it last year and I'm probably going to do it this year.
You might want to check and see if anyone is doing it your area.
We also have a local farmers market and all the food is grown within a 100 miles.
I think it's wonderful. Of course it doesn't eliminate outside that area for some things I eat, but it's nice to get good, really fresh food that's earth friendly and promotes the local economy.
It sounds like a great idea, but I can't get my husband (who is taking French classes with me) to commit to speaking only French for an hour on Sunday, let alone turn off the TV during March Madness.
sugar in the midwest and northern territories would have been expensive as it was not a local product, but would have had to have been brought in by wagon.
most familys would have had a beehive somewhere near their garden to not only help with pollination, but to supply honey to use as a sweetner instead of the expensive sugar. it also would not have been the white refined sugar like we have now, but a more natural sugar in the raw (the stuff we pay more money for now) most of the time.
breads as well would have been more of the dark varieties, and more coarse, very little white bread was consumed as the bleached flours were more costly.
you rose with the sun and went to bed when it got dark. everyone worked from kids young as 4 (sometimes smaller) to help run the farms and support the family. most kids were taught to fire a gun from the age of 6 to help hunt meat or protect the family.
you were lucky if you got one new dress or shirt/pants a year. if you got to go to school at all, you were considered privilaged.
John O., Mar 30, 2008, 10:16am EDT
BEST. COMMENT. EVER!!
We aren't nearly as socially conscious as everyone else, but like I promised: I got really drunk for Mother Earth last night. It didn't do a damned thing to decrease the use of fossil fuels, but I'm only one person...