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From the Burlington Post:
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Despite losing Earth Hour bet to neighbouring Oakville, city officials pleased with participation by residents By Tim Whitnell We may have lost the hour-long battle but casual observers and expert analysts are hopeful that Earth Hour is a step toward winning the much larger and longer war on worldwide power consumption. In the friendly competition between the City of Burlington and the Town of Oakville to see which municipality could save more electricity during last Saturday night's global Earth Hour initiative, our neighbour to the east scored a decisive victory. Oakville Hydro reported an 8.2 per cent reduction in power usage for the 8-9 p.m. period on March 29 while Burlington Hydro recorded a 6.6 per cent savings for this city. Provincially, a five per cent reduction was recorded. For perspective, Burlington Hydro's conservation officer, Rick Tomson, said the 6.6 per cent figure is approximately equivalent to 25,000 kilowatts of energy -- enough to power 25 homes for a month. "I thought it was a great number," Tomson said of the energy savings here, "because Burlington has a fairly substantial base of industrial businesses and a lot of those are operating 24/7. "What's important here isn't the number but the awareness in the community. People are becoming more conscious of lighting," he said. Tomson said that power consumption figures across the city from the two previous Saturdays between 8-9 p.m. were used to compare to last Saturday's use at the same time. He said the air temperatures and natural light conditions were similar for the three consecutive weekends. Power usage from the last Saturday in March for 2007 was not used because Tomson said there has likely been significant growth in the number of new residential, commercial and industrial properties since then which would skew the overall power consumption numbers. Many residents and businesses took part in Earth Hour, by either turning off all their lights or at least dimming them. The communications co-chair for BurlingtonGreen, a local environmental group, said she is happy with the results here. "The significant energy savings show that even small steps, taken together, make a big difference," said Marianne Meed Ward in a BurlingtonGreen press release. "We're very proud of our city and our elected officials who led the way. This shows there's a lot of interest in taking steps to protect our environment for the future." Meed Ward said she and her family dined by candlelight, shut off the television and computer, and played flashlight tag. "The kids want to do it every Saturday. I think it's a great idea to be 'unplugged' regularly," she said. BurlingtonGreen members Ron and Ann Oatman said their family pretended they were sitting around a campfire, and swapped stories of previous camp experiences. "It stimulated lots of conversation and laughs. We liked it so much, we did it for two hours," said Ann Oatman. "We've decided to do this once a month." BurlingtonGreen says Earth Hour is just a first step and encourages residents to visit its website, or sign up for The Good Life campaign (www.thegoodlife.wwf.ca) to get tips on making everyday lifestyle changes to benefit the environment. Staff at Spencer's at the Waterfront restaurant at Spencer Smith Park said their Earth Hour contribution made for an enhanced atmosphere for the patrons of its full dining room as all the lights were dimmed to their lowest level and kitchen staff worked only by candlelight to serve guests. "It actually was extremely romantic for our diners as we added candles (and) guests could read the menu," said Stephan McQueen, general manager of Spencer's. The restaurant's open-kitchen concept was in darkness for the entire hour during peak dinner service. "The setting was incredible looking into the kitchen as the searing of steaks lit the work area," said executive chef Chris Haworth. St. Mark School was one of a number of local schools, institutions and businesses that supported Earth Hour. The Upper Middle Road Catholic elementary school turned off its lights for the entire day last Friday, a day in advance of the global Earth Hour program. St. Mark principal John Susi credited Grade 5 student Jesse Booth with providing the impetus for the school's involvement. Jesse has been a vocal advocate for Earth Hour, making a presentation to Catholic school board trustees on the subject in early February and also having a letter to the editor published in the Burlington Post. "Jesse had read about Earth Hour in an article in a newspaper and made a report to our board of trustees. Jesse initiated this through the school board so we picked up on Jesse's lead," said Susi. The school's classroom lights and computers in the classroom, computer lab and the library were turned off. The gym was closed, lights in the staffroom turned off and coffee makers and microwaves unplugged. No classroom movies, overheads, CD players or listening centres were to be in operation. The school also encouraged students to turn out the lights at home during last Saturday's main Earth Hour promotion. Susi said St. Mark School is one of only a few in Ontario that is a certified Golden Eco School because of its support for environmental initiatives. "Last year we were recognized for our environmental initiatives. We do things like remind students and staff to turn off lights and computers when not in use and give reminders over the PA system about recycling and gardening. We have speakers come in and talk about endangered species." |
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