Category Archives: Earth Hour

Darkness is Cool

Help Keep us from Losing the Dark

A few weeks ago my company, Loch Ness Productions, in collaboration with the International Dark-Sky Association, released a short video called Losing the Dark.  Since then we’ve seen it get downloaded thousands of times, including by planetarium folks who can show it in their domes.

I thought I’d bring it up again, particularly in light of Earth Hour, coming up on Saturday, March 23rd, 2013. From 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. in each time zone, we’re being asked to turn off the lights in a show of concern about Earth’s environment — and the role that excess lighting plays in consumption of fossil fuels.

So, in honor of Earth Hour, participate by turning off your lights, and check out Losing the Dark. Download the flat-screen version and show it in your schools, or at community groups to engender conversations about what we can all do to preserve dark skies (and our health). If you have a planetarium dome and want to show it there, check out the downloads for that, too.  And, for that hour, go outside and check out the night sky (if the weather is clear).  See what we’re missing by lighting up the night.

 

 

Finally, if you’re interested in learning more about ways to mitigate light pollution, check out the many good reports and downloadable information at the International Dark-Sky Association Web site. They’re the world leaders in learning about and solving problems related to excess light at night.

 

Earth Hour Approaches

Your Chance to Switch Off the Lights

and Count the Stars

Earth Hour!  Yours to create and enjoy!
Earth Hour! Yours to create and enjoy!

This Saturday night at 8:30 p.m. (your time) strike a blow for starry skies and switch off your lights. Join the Earth Hour movement and make a difference for our night skies. You’ll be joining people in 84 countries who have committed to do the same thing. Millions of stargazers just like you are turning off the lights and and enjoying the night sky for an hour.  They’re turning off the lights on the Capitol Records building in LA, the pyramids at Giza, La Tour Eiffel (and in all of Paris), and in places great and small around the world — in a wave of support.   So, no matter where you live, at 8:30 p.m. on March 28, 2009, turn ’em off and vote for darker skies.  Go outside and revel in the starlight — and notice how much you can see when the lights are out. Those are the skies we evolved under, folks.  We can do this.

For more information on the countries participating and some cool and nifty downloads, check out the Earth Hour Web site.