Earth Hour: 8:30PM local time, wherever you live on planet earth. This Saturday, March 28

WOW! Has it been a year already? Last year we discovered Earth Hour, an hour set aside to turn off your lights as a "breather" for Mother Earth. It started in Sydney, Australia and has spread around the world! We gathered the kids, killed the lights and spent the next two hours playing charades by candelight. In fact, when it came time to turn the lights back on, the kids were bummed (thus the second hour of twilight charades!). They were so excited they wanted to have an Earth Hour every week - lol.

From the Earth Hour website, here are some different ways to spend Earth Hour and reduce your carbon footprint:

1. Attend a local Earth Hour event or organise your own by throwing an Earth Hour street party with your neighbours
2. Gather family & friends for a night picnic in your local park and look at the stars
3. Enjoy a family dinner by candlelight
4. Organise a treasure hunt in the dark
5. Take the dog for a night walk
6. Have a candle-lit bath
7. Sit in the dark and share stories
8. Organise a family night playing board games
9. Share a romantic night in with your loved one

Earth Hour Executive Director, Andy Ridley, is encouraging people to participate in whatever way they choose and to think beyond the hour.“There are no hard and fast rules surrounding participation in Earth Hour. We only ask that you flick that switch and have fun doing whatever you choose to do during that time.

Make Earth Hour work for you. Families with young children should feel free to turn their lights off earlier than 8:30pm and for those having too much fun in the dark during the hour, don’t feel you have to limit yourself to one hour and switch back on at 9:30pm.” To find out more about Earth Hour, visit the official website www.earthhour.org, sign up and join millions of people in more than 1,400 cities and towns in 80 countries throughout the world by turning off your lights for one hour at 8:30pm on Saturday 28 March."