Earth Hour 2012

Don't forget, everyone: Earth Hour is coming up on Saturday March 31 from 8:30 - 9:30 pm. Turn off as many of your electrical devices as you can for an hour, and let's see how much we can reduce our consumption.

For more information and suggestions on what to do with your electricity-free hour, check out the City of Red Deer's page here.

HOME

Spend an hour or so with us and immerse yourself in HOME, a film by Yann Arthus-Bertrand.

Click this link to be taken to HOME on Youtube. Unfortunately we couldn't embed it right here.

Yann writes: "We are living in exceptional times. Scientists tell us that we have 10 years to change the way we live, avert the depletion of natural resources and the catastrophic evolution of the Earth's climate.The stakes are high for us and our children. Everyone should take part in the effort, and HOME has been conceived to take a message of mobilization out to every human being. For this purpose, HOME needs to be free. A patron, the PPR Group, made this possible. EuropaCorp, the distributor, also pledged not to make any profit because Home is a non-profit film.

HOME has been made for you : share it! And act for the planet."

We echo Yann. Share this incredible film amongst your friends and family.

Easy Ways to Conserve Power

With the current cold weather, holiday baking, Christmas lights, and so on, power consumption is spiking. Save yourself some money and help delay the construction of new power plants and transmission lines by doing your part in reducing electricity consumption:

• Run appliances such as washers, dishwashers, and clothes driers later in the evening or on weekends, during times of low power demand
• Use timers on your vehicule's block heater, and only heat the engine for a couple of hours before you need to use it: heating it overnight wastes energy and costs you money!
• Turn off electric (space- and baseboard heaters) except when needed.
• Convert to energy-efficient lighting: compact fluorescents or LED bulbs use MUCH less power than traditional incandescent lights. Outdoor holiday light displays are wonderful, but can use $27 of power in a month, at 6 hours/day. By comparison, inexpensive LED Christmas lights will cost you 47¢.
• Unplug any "beer fridges" that are not in use.
• Use the smallest burner you can get away with on your range, and use a microwave instead of the full-size oven when possible.
• Unplug "vampire" electronics: cell phone chargers, instant-on televisions, and unused little power adaptors. They all draw power even when not on, costing you money!

None of these tips should decrease anyone's quality of life. Better scheduling and smart choices means saving money and ensuring that Alberta doesn't build more coal or nuclear power plants.