The Changes

We just renewed our building lease and negotiated $100,000 to be spent on energy efficiency. Now we are trying to figure out where to start. We are in a glass building and have already treated the windows. I'd love to hear ideas.

I am switching all lights to cfls, unplugging anything not in use and using power bars for all electronics to turn them off more easily.  Any other suggestions?

1. My hair dryer (so no cracks about the 'do, ok?)

2. All the #@*!!## beeping, noisy kids' toys in our house. Let them play with carbon neutral, quiet blocks for the day.

3. My TV. I can read the American Idol results online. ;)

What will YOU turn off?

There's this French initiative that has caught on well beyond the country's borders: turning off our lights for five minutes in the evening on Thursday, February 1st. (That's 10:55 am to 11:00 am our time here in B.C.)

Holy fast responses! Friday morning I received a nice email from Chris, a pr guy for Grouse Mountain, outlining the reasons that the lights are on at night. With his kind permission, I've included the email below.

Aaron-

Here is why the lights of Grouse Mountain remain on until 2am every morning:

I remember hearing once that BC Hydro donates the electricity to Grouse because they consider the lights a tourist attraction. So not only is Grouse wasting the electricity & messing up our beautiful view at dusk, but they're also (if the rumours are true) doing it for free. Well, not free exactly, because we're paying for it!

The prospect of that makes me very upset. I guess I'd better verify the facts before I get too mad, though...