Flicking a switch or two... or ten... then enjoying an hour of relative peace and reduced eyestrain shouldn't seem like too daunting a task. It could set a good precedent, and, if enough people did it at the same time it could show a huge drop in power consumption.
That's the plan. By taking part, Castlegar residents can band together in a friendly competition with similar-size communities and maybe help out the local Habitat for Humanity effort while they're at it.
It's called Earth Hour and it's being orchestrated by FortisBC for the fourth consecutive year.
Give it some thought, the hour to plan for kicks in at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 31.As spelled out in the above link, you could win a great prize just for pledging to take part, and Habitat for Humanity's Castlegar operation could come out ahead to the tune of $5,000 if Castlegar shows the rest of the region what its made of.
Marc Allarie, a local Habitat director says he and his colleagues have heard that the program will get that $5,000 if local power savers top the list.
"We haven't determined exactly what we'd spend it on," said Allarie, who went on to indicate it would be some sort of energy efficient products... windows, appliances for example.
It was up to officials in each community to decide on a worthy cause to benefit from the bonus money should it be forthcoming. As for the Habitat outfit potentially getting the $5k kick in the coffers, a confident Castlegar Mayor told the Castlegar News on March 9, "At the Green Committee we we're talking about how that (Habitat) would be a good place to put it (prize money). Of course we're hoping to win it. We wouldn't enter if we weren't going to win."
Meanwhile, Castlegarians, take moment to consider the event, and maybe help your city be an Earth Hour winner.