The Earth Hour 2010 Report

Earth Hour 2010 was the largest public demonstration in history, according to a press release by the World Wildlife Fund:

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4,000 cities
in 125 countries
including all 50 states
and Washington, D.C.

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In northern Illinois, ComEd registered a decline in electricity usage of about 1 percent during the 8:30-9:30 period. One percent doesn't seem like a big number (and of course it could be bigger, which would be awesome), but it is a noticeable difference: the equivalent of removing 124,320 pounds of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, or planting 15 acres of trees. Nice work, people. Let's shoot for an even higher percent next year!

I encourage you to read some of the accounts from cities around the world on EarthHour.org's news page. The site also has some really neat photos and videos of the event.

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Here's just a sampling of Before-And-After photos:

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St. Louis Arch, MO, USA ©WWF/Steve Behrends

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Chicago Theater, IL, USA ©WWF/Chuck Osgood
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Burj Al Arab, Dubai, UAE ©Jumeirah Group

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View of Central Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong ©WWF/HKPPA .

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Tower Bridge, London, UK ©WWF/Jon Freeman

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Candlelit coffee (illuminated by battery-powered headlamp)

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Yes, that last one is ours. Len realized he needed to reheat his cup of coffee after everything was already unplugged. Setting a pillar candle inside a jug of similar diameter and balancing his mug on a cookie-cooling rack, he made use of the flame. It worked, but it also was quite precarious (as if you couldn't tell), and some coffee spilled on the carpet. Yeah, we cleaned it up by candlelight too, but not without the help of our awesome LED headlamps.