A few days ago, there was an event nationwide called the Earth Hour.  The point of this event was to shut off unnecessary electronics, in a motion to limited negative environmental impact from said electronics.  You could liken many lights in your house to a dripping faucet.  There’s not a lot of power being used on a daily basis, but it adds up over time.  So while it may seem miniscule, in reality it’s a colossal waste.  What was frustrating though is that one of the planned events was a party.  From the advertisements, I thought that maybe it would be something cool, since they were talking about a bunch of glow sticks and stuff like that.  When I got there though, I found they had every light turned on, and they were wasting tons of electricity – counter to the whole idea.  All of this got me thinking though, you can probably save a lot of money by shutting off lots of electronics you aren’t using – unplug your laptops from time to time, turn of your computer when you aren’t using it, and maybe read a book from time to time instead of watching TV.  On a daily basis it probably won’t make much difference, to be honest.  But you might end up saving hundreds of dollars a year, or maybe even a month (depending on costs and your usage).  So try and limit your energy usage – it’ll help not only your pocketbook, but it’ll extend our non-renewable resources just a little bit.
Another thing it made me consider of was light pollution.  I should give you background – both my parents are from small towns, and I’m an eagle scout, so they made sure that I was looking at the stars from an early age.  But there are so many people I’ve met from cities which haven’t seen stars, not even once.  I honestly feel really bad for these people, because the night sky is one of the most beautiful things in existence in my opinion.  It just made me think about how nice it would be if light pollution could be reduced to a point where people in the cities could see the stars from time to time.  I realize this isn’t really feasible in most cases though – things that exist for safety like street lights would have to be cut, which would be far from good.  Perhaps a solution will be found some day though.  Until that day though, I urge you to go out and look at the night sky – especially if you never have before.  I think you will find it rewarding, since the sheer grandeur and beauty are nothing short of awe inspiring.

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