Some folks might not know that on Saturday March 27, at 8:30pm about a billion people around the world are going to turn off the lights and be willfully and wonderfully in the dark.

When I first participated in Earth Hour last year, I really didn’t give it much thought. Oh, hey, c’mon, what can my one hour of turned off lights and TV matter to the massive issue of global climate change? It’s a big problem that even the oil producing middle east is addressing. 

Who am I? What can I do?

Well, I found something out that was interesting. Just knowing I was participating in a global hour of action, really hit me. It was that one hour, on that one day, that really started me thinking about my part in the issue. Time to take energy inventory.

I’ve not been a big driver. I have a 17 year old car with less that 40K miles on it. I think it’s pretty safe to say I have a small carbon footprint there.

I’m not a slave to a pristine manicured landscape either. I am a self proclaimed “lawn care loser.”

So I started looking around the house. Buildings are the single largest consumers of energy even more than cars.

Ah ha! This I can do. My energy life at home is pretty sloppy. Time to clean up.

For example, I took a look at my phantom electricity use.   I have installed power strips on my television/digital box, the computer, and even other electronics. To turn them off, to REALLY turn them off, I flip the switch on the strip and cut power completely to the machinery that would otherwise run.

I no longer use a plugged in clock radio. I use a battery run alarm clock now. The battery lasts for, well, I don’t know... I haven’t had to change it yet.

Next I  disconnected my lawn lights and installed a motion detector for the one floodlight that is really needed. It lights only when I drive up and it spills light all across the entry area. It stays on for 3 minutes then turns off. I have also lowered the bulb wattage in my lamps. I am, after all, not doing surgery in the living room. I’m not a real fan of those weird little fluorescent bulbs yet and questions persist about mercury in them. I put a timer on the light in the bedroom so if I fall asleep it automatically turns off at 2am.

I know it doesn’t seem like a lot but I gotta tell ya, the results showed up immediately on my electric bill. It dropped $20 the first month! I'm doing it! I'm not using as much electricity!

I became obsessed. “I can get this lower,” said I, as my gaze turned to the item that all Floridians feel is the most important item in the home: the ceiling fan. Turned all of them off except for the one in the room where I am at the time. 

Next month…another $10 off the bill! Lower bill means lower use!

Whoa. Whoa. I became maniacal. Can I get this lower? Yes! Yes I can.

Last year, I recaulked the seals on my windows and put reflective coating on them. It took a while to smooth out the bubbles, but it has helped. For us, it’s not about staying warm in the winter as much as it is all about staying cool in the summer. I’d love to get a new air conditioning system, one of the new really energy efficient ones. But I can’t afford it now, even with incentives. Maybe if I get a steadier income flow... 

Set the thermostat at 82 degrees (on a 98 degree day, believe me, it’s fine), change the filters every month and BAM! Another $10 off the summer months’ electric bills.

In one year, I have cut my energy consumption by a whopping 20%.

So this Saturday, March 27, at 8:30pm, I’ll light a candle and start flipping switches. The goal will be to hear only the occasional hum of the refrigerator. I’ll raise a glass of merlot and join one billion people around the globe who will experience Earth Hour 2010.

Yeah, I feel good about it. I feel connected to something so much bigger than my little corner of the universe. I can do my small part. So can you.

Try it...just an hour...March 27 8:30pm...just turn out the lights for 1 hour. Join us, a billion of us, willfully and wonderfully in the dark.

Update: both the City of Orlando and Orange County Florida have signed on to this global event. The weasel is thrilled!