Go dark! Tomorrow – Saturday, 3-28-09 – is Earth Hour when cities, and businesses and tens of millions of people like yourself all over the world will be turning off their lights for one hour – from 8:30 to 9:30 PM (your time) –  in honor of saving energy to save the entire planet.

Join in – flip those switches to OFF and feel the powerful energy of tens of millions of others, like yourself, sitting happily in the dark, saving energy. Do it with a friend — it’s more fun that way.

Anybody who is anybody will be tuning in and turning off, according to the World Wildlife Fund, which has organized this delightful plunge into the dark. Nearly 200 cities in the U.S. are officially committed; 2400 cities in 82 countries have officially signed on.

Broadway theater marquees and other world-renowned landmarks will be turning off their lights:

• Empire State Building
• Rockefeller Center
• Chrysler Building
• Golden Gate Bridge,
• Space Needle
• Sears Tower
• Great Pyramids and Sphinx in Egypt
• Acropolis in Greece

For those of you with short attention spans who have difficulty reading past the first word “ Earth” and are confused – this is not Earth Day – it’s a little dress rehearsal. So if you are reading this after Saturday, and you didn’t get to join in the dark-hour fun, you can still make up for it to the gods of green on April 22, 2009, for the big Earth Day.

Turning off is a big turn-on.

Watch this video of the lights going out: Earth Hour in Years Past

Even the Las Vegas strip is turning lights off. And like Vegas, what you do during Earth Hour, stays in Earth Hour.

LINKS:

Earth Hour 2009 video

30 Second PSA voiced by Cate Blanchett

Want a minute-by-minute account? Here’s a new iPhone application “Earth Hour Trainer”:

Photo credit: 2witches.com/blog/tag/earth/

By Susan Seliger

You want to save energy, save money and save the planet, right?  So why not shoot your own little home video and show other Americans how they can be smarter in their energy use. Just a little 30-second video – and you could win $10,000.

That’s all there is to it. The video contest is sponsored by Smart Power, an organization devoted to helping Americans become smarter about their energy use.

Need inspiration? Smart Power offers these factoids on energy use to get your creative green juices flowing:

• Phantom load (the energy that appliances continue to draw when you think they’re off – but they’re still plugged in) wastes roughly the same amount of energy as produced by 18 power plants!

• If every American home replaced just one incandescent light bulb with a CFL bulb, we would save enough energy to light 3 million homes for a year, save over $600 million and reduce the emissions equivalent to 800,000 cars.

• If you are using a second refrigerator in your basement or garage, consider getting rid of it — you’d save over $100 per year.

So start shooting. The deadline for this Smart Power: Let’s Get Energy Smart contest is Earth Day — April 22, 2009.

]]> http://www.goodgreentips.com/2009/01/win-10000-show-others-how-to-save-energy-in-a-30-second-video/feed/ 0 http://www.goodgreentips.com/2008/12/green-freebie-win-a-fuel-efficient-smart-for-two-car/ http://www.goodgreentips.com/2008/12/green-freebie-win-a-fuel-efficient-smart-for-two-car/#comments Fri, 05 Dec 2008 21:22:46 +0000 susan http://www.goodgreentips.com/?p=453 By Susan Seliger

What better holiday present for yourself – or a friend you like to drive around with – than a cute, fuel-efficient, smart fortwo car? (This gift will be appreciated by four-legged friends as well. ) Even better — you may be able to get it free. You could be one of the 12 lucky winners in the QVC 12 Days of Christmas Sweepstakes who will drive one away.

And if you don’t win the green car, you still have over 1000 chances to win another form of green — free shopper dollars worth anywhere from $50 to $250. The deadline is 12-12-08.

(Photo credit: Smart Car Blog)

Get off to a fresh, clean-green start this fall – you might win a free Duet steam washer and dryer from Whirlpool. Using steam, the washer eats up 77% less energy than traditional machines and 73% less water. It comes in cool colors and with accessories that organize the whole laundry room. Clean up your act – and enter to win.

Sure, you know you should drive less and walk more. But when you absolutely have to go by car, why not find the cheapest gas around? Here are some web sites that will help you do just that. Many of them let you plug in your address or zip code – and tell you where to go …in the nicest possible way.

And with all that money you save, you can save up for a new (or pre-owened) bike that will save you even more green.

5 Web Sites that Will Help You Save Money on Gas

1. Mapquest Gas

Plug in your address and Mapquest will find you chreap gas – and tell you how to get there – so you an see if the drive is worth the savings.
http://gasprices.mapquest.com/index.jsp

2. GasBuddy

This network of more than 180 gas price information websites will get you to the best prices. http://www.gasbuddy.com/

3. Internet Auto Guide

Fill in your zip code and find gas stations near you with the lowest prices.
http://www.internetautoguide.com/gas-prices/index.html

4. MSN Autos

See the price of gas at stations in your area, with names and addresses.
http://autos.msn.com/everyday/gasstations.aspx?zip=&src=Netx

5. Motor Trend Gas Tracker

Put in your state, your county, your neighborhood, and find cheap gas near you.
http://www.motortrend.com/gas_prices/

For more information, check out:

Girl Bikes 1500 Miles for Electric Vehicles

15 Tips For Better Mileage — Want to Get 70 MPG in Your Toyota Prius?

The Hype About Hypermiling

Two Wheels Are Greener Than Four

Honda Civic GX Tops List of Greenest Cars

Driving Green = Fewer Greenbacks

Top 10 Most Fuel-Efficient Cars: Save Gas, Save Money

Record Month For Selling Gas — Saving Cars Getting Better Than 30 MPG

Photo credit: http://media.myfoxcleveland.com/winterweather/cheap%20gas.jpg

The headlines are filled with the bad news — the housing market is in the biggest slump in decades. But there is a silver lining you may not have read so much about: Homeowners are doing more green home improvements than ever. They may not be updating the whole kitchen, but they are doing the small jobs that count for saving energy and money, such as weather-stripping, caulking those breezy windows, buying CFL bulbs and insulating their bathrooms and water heaters.

Execs at Home Depot, the gigantic retailer for all things DIY around the home, reports in a New York Times article, that, in addition to green repairs, people are also stocking up on pellet fuel before winter hits.

“This is a trend we expect to continue into the third quarter,” one of those execs is quoted as saying, in the Times article: Home Repairs Become Focus as Consumers Feel Pinched. .

Third quarter? How forward-looking!

Try “the next decade” sir.

And as usual, consumers lead the way — and retailers try to keep up.

So what should you do for your home if you can only do one thing to improve energy-efficiency — and save some money?

Big step: Replace old leaky windows.

Medium step: Put up storm windows to keep the heat in.

Small step: Caulk, caulk, caulk. And if storms are too costly, make your own heavy curtains — leave them open during the say to let the sun (passive solar heat) in, and close them up at night to keep the heat high and your heating bills low. And start socking away some cash to tackle that first Big Step one day soon.

And for more on passive solar design in homes, check out this article on the subject by Ellen Honigstock, RiverWired’s Leading LEED green architect.

And check out a great blog on greening your home by Jennifer Chait: Best Green Home Tips.

Photo credit: http://www.housecareservice.com/images/house_wvz9.jpg