Annoyed By Earth Hour

The impact might look big as a single number. But if you really think about it, that is how much we spend (or waste) each hour normally. This Earth Hour was just another charity hoax so the western way of life can pretend to be "

Environmental Impact of Energy Savings Environmental Impact Assumptions Used Carbon Dioxide emission reduction per yr. (lbs. CO2) 18,299,818 "

Environmental Impact of Energy Savings(400,000 rooms worldwide - 4 fixtures using 26 watts each turned off for 1 hour) Environmental Impact Assumptions Used Carbon Dioxide emission reduction per yr. (lbs. CO2) 18,299,818 "

Jeff, I respectfully disagree. Sometimes it is a fine line between genuine and disingenuous. That brings me to a few more "c's" of green, consistency, continuum and capitalism. Most of the hotels and hotel companies that are poised to promote Earth Hour have consistently moved along the green continuum. They have well established programs with multiple layers which enables them to capitalize on this opportunity to educate their guests, local community and the staff while communicating their eco ethos. Granted, this may only be 1 hour but we have short attention spans and it may just be a great pause for the cause. Small steps have led to big changes in our lifetimes. Perhaps this will strike a chord with someone that previously was undereducated or uninformed. After all, our environment doesn't know our motives. Ray Burger

Jeff, I respectfully disagree. Sometimes it is a fine line between genuine and disingenuous. That brings me to a few more "

Are there any results as to what Earth Hour accomplishes? Obviously the message isn't influential- to the press or consumers. Would the message be more influential if a hotel donated the savings from Earth Hour to a charity? And really, why is Earth Hour about electricity? I believe WWF began Earth Hour, why don't employees give each employee a paid hour to donate to a charity- that's more Earth progressive. Just my opinion.

No one ever talks about channeling excess energy to developing or under developed countries. It appears to be a very lame effort to save the world by switching off lights for an hour and then perhaps spend few extra hours after that celebrating the success of the cause.

I am annoyed by it too, all this timewasting on issues like reducing carbon emissions that have no effect on the climate whatsoever. This just shows that a squeaky wheel will ALWAYS be listened too eventually.

Two comments: 1) Many "replacement" sources of light used in earth Hour (e. g. candles) are as bad for the environment as running your normal electricity. 2) As long as the mayor of Baotou in China can come to me after the opening of my international 5-star hotel and DEMAND that I immediately obey the local Building Code and install and TURN ON decorative external building lighting (or people in Hong Kong are shining huge spotlights on any facade they can find), something is seriously wrong with all our "GREEN" approaches!

I just want to say that something is out of control at all

In fact, I appreciate getting all information, releases, etc. They help me form opinions for platforms such as blogs -- a reasonable forum to voice my own thoughts. In addition, I can't compare my job to that of a hotelkeeper. I don't consider it a logical comparison.

Dear Editor, Isn't it weird being an editor to receive information - whether you like it or not is up to you? Tomorrow, as an hotelier, I will complain that I have to cope with guests - they are such a nuisance

I totally agree, Jeff. And the worst thing about it: Many studies show that you actually waste more energy by switching on and off certain light bulbs than letting them on for a couple of hours. Total nonsense - people should finally come up with real measures to be eco-friendly...

Greenwashing is only when a hotel (or other business) pays attention only when there's a bandwagon to jump onto. I'm more annoyed by hotels that boast about saving water and detergent and tell you the towels won't be replaced if you hang them back up, and no matter how neatly I do that, housekeeping ignores. Cheers for the hotels and resorts using Earth Hour as an opportunity to actually teach guests about the environment. And trying to save it. Evelyn Kanter www.EcoTraveller.info

As executive director of Boston Green Tourism, I have encouraged our member hotels to celebrate Earth Hour. To date, twelve Boston area hotels have decided to participate. These hotels are indeed authentic in their actions--they have reduced their use of energy, water and toxic products, and they produce less waste than priviously. But that's besides the point. The point of Earth Hour is to make a statement that global warming is a threat to our well-being and economy, and we need to take action. This message will be communicated on every continent on March 28. It's nice to see that the hotel community is playing a role in this initiative.

As another editor receiving all the Earth Hour releases, I too am annoyed. But no more annoyed than I am with girlfriend getaways, Valentine's Day packages or gas-price driven promotions in the summer... The real question that needs to be asked is why all marketers are jumping on the bandwagon instead of breaking out and doing something truly unique and different that goes well beyond marketing to have some authenticity to it--