An Earth Hour Passes

Illustration by Jason Moss
(Printed in the Philippine Daily Inquirer 04/05/08)

An Earth Hour Passes

by Katrina A. Holigores

Give the Earth a break from Global Warming the text messages said. For one full hour, all were requested to shut off their lights, aircons, radios, tv sets...basically almost every electrical powered device in their households. Seemed simple enough, 8pm to 9pm would see the world unite in the dark. At 7pm I made my way to a friend's condo in San Juan. There was a small gathering planned of about 7-8 people that night and we were excited to see from the vantage point of the 9th floor parts of the city "black out". We prepared candles, incense and a light dinner that was pre-cooked so we could enjoy a real candlelight dinner.

Five minutes to the 20th hour of the day and we settled in a circle as our host went around switching off lights, the electric fan and even the telephone. Some took advantage of the silence and lack of light to meditate, some prayed, some played light, rhythmic beats on a skin drum while I went out and stood over the balcony in anticipation for a vast neverending stretch of darkness.

No such luck. Fifteen minutes into 8 o' clock and the houses closest to the apartment building seemed to have every light turned on. The streets should have just been lit by passing cars but were illuminated instead by every abode within sight. Half an hour and still no change, I looked to my left and saw buildings, I imagine commercial ones lit from top to bottom, some even looked like they were under construction and I doubt anyone was working on them on a Saturday night. By 8:45 it was glaringly obvious that at least this portion of the Philippines were I had chosen to spend my Earth Hour had not bothered to deduct even 60 mins worth of usage from their Meralco bill.

I returned to the circle with mixed feelings. Another companion rang a bell fifteen minutes later and gently said "One Earth Hour is over". I couldn't help but think as the lights were switched back on and the room started to get brighter and brighter..was it really just an hour that was over? Or a general consciousness to make a change? I hope not.