MANILA, Philippines - It usually goes down like this. You go to a friend of a friend’s condo at around 7:00 or 7:30. And it’s gotta be a high-rise, you see? With a balcony and an awesome view of the city. Someone’s iPod is connected to a speaker and the music is playing loud. You are introduced to people in the party you never met before and you grab a drink — an ice-cold beer from the ref, or mix a cocktail by the bar. It’s potluck so your bucket of fried chicken or nachos is on another table full of other platters of takeout food. Maybe you’ll have a bite because you are hungry.
And then, by 8:30, the lights go out. “Earth Hour!” someone shouts and everyone moves towards the balcony. Some bohemian chick in a long flow-y sundress starts lighting scented candles while people stare out into the city looking at who is participating and who isn’t.
“Look at Greenbelt, the lights are all still open,” someone always says.
“Is that where Manila should be?” someone else asks, pointing out into the distance. “I think it should be there but I don’t see anything.”
“Look at my neighbors. They don’t even observe Earth Hour. All the lights are on in their condos.”
In the darkness, everyone is chatting, drinking, and eating. The darkness is punctuated by a camera flash or the warm glow of the embers from a lit cigarette.
There is a brief discussion on whose watch is fast as they consider the approach of 9:30. Eventually, all the lights are switched on while the music begins to play again and someone enters the main bedroom to turn on the AC to cool off. From then on, it’s a full-on party until midnight when some people leave to go clubbing while others stay to finish off all the beer in the freezer.
This is how I spent two consecutive Earth Hours. A couple of weeks later, I’ve noticed that nothing has changed. Some people have their ACs on 24/7. Some people leave the lights on in rooms they entered but are not staying in. Some people leave their chargers plugged in the sockets even if they are no longer charging their phones or computers.
The point of Earth Hour is commitment. It’s a commitment that from that point on we will do what we can to conserve energy because we are running out of resources. We can’t say we observed Earth Hour and that’s it, we’ve done our part. No, it has got to extend beyond that if we want to make any sort of changes. Otherwise, there’s no point.
I don’t observe Earth Hour but I live it day-to-day. I don’t use AC anytime of the day of the year, always unplug appliances not in use, and switch off all lights in rooms where no one is in. I’ve been doing this since forever. That’s my commitment.
I hope one hour every year isn’t the only thing you do for the environment. It’s a great excuse for a condo party but it’s a whole lot more than that, guys. It’s the future of our planet.