50 Things to Do During Earth Hour

Every last Saturday of March is Earth Hour. The goal of Earth Hour is to raise awarenes towards the need to take action towards climate change. Business and homes everywhere participate by shutting off their lights and lowering their energy consumption in any way that they can. Every year, the participants in Earth Hour have grown in numbers, as more people become more aware of the changes our planet are going through (and the Earth Hour event itself).

Think Earth Hour sounds like a great idea, but you're struggling to find things to do? Here;s a list of 50 things to do during Earth Hour, from candlelight dinners to scary ghost stories. You're bound to find something on the list that you'll find fun and interesting!

1. There's never been a better excuse to cook up some Smores by the fire.
2. A game of flashlight tag feels even more justified and fun during Earth Hour.
3. Tell some scary ghost stories in the pitch black of the night.
4. Cook up a late night BBQ and serve some of your family's favorites.
5. Get the whole area involved and throw a neighborhood party for Earth Hour.
6. Kids and adults alike can appreciate the simplicity of candelit shadow puppets.
7. While you have your candles burning, you can also plan your own romantic candlelight dinner.
8. Experience the phenomenon of glow in the dark Lifesavers at night.
9. Let the kids bring out their collection of glow in the dark stickers to fully appreciate the glow.
10. Play with glow sticks, tons of fun in the pitch black dark.
11. Listen for owls at night and learn the different calls. Just be very quiet and go into the woods with your call tape (wait a few minutes after each call to wait for them to respond).
12. View constellations and try to find some of the popular ones like Orion's Belt and the Big Dipper.
13. Go camping in your own backyard for the night.
14. Start a campfire and enjoy those Smores and tell ghost stories. It will be a night to remember!
15. Play board games by candlelight.
16. Plan a night hike, a thrilling experience that's far different from any day hike you've ever gone on.
17. View the beautiful, natural wonder of tidal pools lit by moonlight (bring a flashlight, too).
18. The first warm, rainy night of spring is when the salamanders walk to the vernal pools to breed. This is a sight to see (and might not happen during Earth Hour, but it's around this time of year).
19. Listen for animals near your home, or in the woods. Like owls, you'll just need to be quiet and patient.
20. Turn off everything in your home and go grocery shopping. You'll enjoy the short lines at the grocery store!
21. Go to the movies. They'll be using the electricity in the theater whether you go or night.
22. Tell one of these scary ghost stories and terrify everyone around you.
23. Attend a restaurant that is participating in Earth Hour. Google your local area plus "earth hour restaurants" for more information.
24. Sleep. The average American could use more of it. Why not tonight?
25. Hold a blind taste testing for beer, wine and cheese.
26. Ask for a massage, or give a massage. They're even better in the dark (and a great way to relax during Earth Hour).
27. Plan a scavenger hunt at night in your yard, in the woods, in the city, or wherever you find fun.
28. Listen to your favorite music on your ipod in the serenity of the dark.
29. Walk around to see who else is participating in Earth Hour.
30. Break out those scented candles that you've been storing and actually use them.
31. Play board games that you've never played before, maybe even the scariest one of all, the ouija board.
32. Read by candlelight (not too close though!).
33. Reminisce about your past, talk about it, and share it with your kids, partner or friends.
34. Let the kids play outside late. They'll be thrilled.
35. Play horseshoes in the dark. It's much harder.
36. Go thermostat free and bundle up (if you need to).
37. Read up on reducing, reusing, and recycling on your charged up Blackberry or iphone.
38. Use your Kindle to read without any candlelight.
39. Play new video games on your Nintendo DS or portable game system.
40. Take a bath. They're even more relaxing in the dark.
41. Pamper yourself with all of your spa and beauty products, then recycle the containers.
42. Take a walk along the beach if it's low tide and take in the fresh air.
43. Take the train into the city and walk around.
44. Enjoy the free lights and electricity at your local coffee shop.
45. Make campfire food.
46. Use the time to talk about what you'd like to plant in your garden (or indoor garden), or other green ideas for the coming spring and summer months.
47. Look up at the nighttime sky to notice how dark or not dark it really is.
48. Listen for frogs and spring peepers.
49. Make some fondue.
50. Start making your own list of things that you did during Earth Hour, then share them here or on your own blog!

Did you participate in Earth Hour? If you didn't, you can make plans to participate in Earth Hour next year, or just plan your own personal Earth Hour on a different day. It's all about reducing our impact on the environment and educating others. You can also read our other post on things to do during Earth Hour for more ideas.

Ten Things to Do During Earth Hour

Earlier last week, we posted about Earth Hour and what it is, how it's growing, and what cities worldwide are participating. Here, we're going to give you some ideas on what to do during Earth Hour this year:

1. Catch up on your sleep. If you have no kids, this is the perfect time to hit the hay a little early and catch up on some sleep.

2. Go outside and view the stars. How often do you actually do this? Walk to somewhere where the light pollution levels are low if you can. If you have a telescope or some binoculars, bring those along. How about some nighttime shots of the sky, or the outdoors?

3. Take a walk outside. Taking a walk at night is a far different experience than during the day. Try having some recorded owl sounds on hand, you never know what might call back.

4. If you're near a beach, walk on the beach at night. There's a whole bunch of things you can do.

5. Make Smores on the grill or by a campfire. Or, have a late BBQ.

Buy at AllPosters.com

6. Extend Earth Hour to an all-day event and challenge yourselves to think of ways to entertain yourself without electricity for an entire day. It can be done (and will make a great inspirational story for other people!).

7. Play hide and seek in the dark with your family. Ten times harder, and it will make your rely on your other senses to find people!

8. Tell scary stories by candlelight. Need some ideas? Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is an classic that scared the crap out of everyone, whether you like to admit it or not!

9. Play board games at night. But watch out, it's easier to cheat with the lights out!

10. Catch up on some reading. There's no distractions around you, so what better time to get caught up?

Get Ready for Earth Hour 2009

Picture by Aussiegal on Flickr.
Earth Hour first started in 2007 in Sydney, Australia, and is quickly becoming a worldwide event and precursor to Earth Day. The cities of Chicago, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Miami, Atlanta, Nashville and San Francisco are all participating in the Earth Hour event this year, as well as international sites like Russia, Poland, Turkey, Singapore, South Africa, Brazil, India, United Kingdom and France, as well as many others.

Created by the World Wildlife Fund, Earth hour aims to raise awareness on taking action to do something about climate change. This year, Earth Hour will be Saturday, March 28 2009 at 8:30 pm, local time.

Earth Hour is a great way to get kids involved in thinking more green. In actuality, they love it! Turning off the lights for an hour is a fun way to get your kids excited and to show them how people lived before the day and age of electricity. Hard to imagine, but there was once such a day.

This week, this post will be followed up with some ideas on what you can do this Earth Hour to make it fun and more worthwhile for you and your family.