Earth Hour and Removing Candle Wax

So how was your Earth Hour on Saturday? It didn’t seem long enough to me. I totally enjoyed the stillness of Earth Hour. Turning off all my electric stuff made me appreciate the natural peace and quiet. I was especially happy to get away from my computer, as I’ve been absurdly addicted to it lately.

I'm assuming, like me, you all had candles ablaze during Earth Hour. Every now and then I like to use just candles at night and pretend I’m living like “Little House on the Prairie”. There’s something pretty important about the days when we lived by nature’s rhythm—up with the sun and winding down as it sets. Nowadays, thanks to electricity, we ignore those rhythms, which isn’t good for our health.

Anyway, I’ve gone off the point, because what I wanted to do is tell you a quick tip for removing candle wax from votive holders. It’s so easy and smart that I can’t believe I spent years trying to complete this task with knives and other pointy objects, nearly losing fingers in the process. All you do is pop the votive holder into the freezer for about 15 minutes. The wax shrinks and voila—it comes right out. I bet Laura Ingalls’ mom wishes she could have done that.

Turn Out the Lights--Join Earth Hour

My Dad was eco-savvy long before it became hip. He installed one of those water-saving shower heads when I was a teenager and a shower was vital to my social existence. Greasy hair was just not cool. But the biggest thing I remember is that he always walked around the house shouting, "Turn out the lights!"

He will be very pleased to know that at 8pm on 29 March 2008, cities across the world will turn off their lights for one hour sending a powerful global message that it’s possible to take action on global warming.

Earth Hour, which started a year ago in Sydney, Australia has become a global movement. Last year 2.2 million people, including corporations, turned out their lights in Sydney, creating a 10.2% energy reduction, which is the equivilent of taking 48 thousand cars off the road. Learn more about Earth Hour and how you can support this green movement. It will make my Dad smile.