Lights out?

I think this was last week.

i know some people who sit in the dark every night, turning on a light just to go to a different room, bathe (and turn off the shower water while they lather up), etc.
and i know an elderly lady in athens who had her water heater turned off. she boils water on the stover for dishes and baths.

Is this because of the cost of electricity, hippie, or are these people just conservative? I remember my grandparents not having lights on in a room if they were not in that room and they were just conservative. Of course they lived through the depression and I don't think ever got totally over it.

I wonder how much a town could save by turning off the lights for 1 hour. Or would it lose money because more police would be needed, etc.?

Earth Hour was March 29th at 8:00 pm. Google used a black screen as a symbolic gesture the entire day. Other gestures included turning off the lights on the Golden Gate Bridge between 8 and 9 that night.

I would think we could organize something locally, since the TD really didn't inform us ot this project or encourage anyone to participate. It wouldn't be Earth Hour, but could be Shoals Hour.

The people who participated in Earth Hour were de-lighted.

quote:

Originally posted by moodymama:
Is this because of the cost of electricity, hippie, or are these people just conservative? I remember my grandparents not having lights on in a room if they were not in that room and they were just conservative. Of course they lived through the depression and I don't think ever got totally over it.

I wonder how much a town could save by turning off the lights for 1 hour. Or would it lose money because more police would be needed, etc.?

the first ones do it because they were raised that way. i think it's just a habit.
the elderly lady does it to save on her meagar SS income, and i think it's sad she has to do that. she said her neighbor can't afford water, and fills buckets from a friend's outside hose. that breaks my heart.

now if someone cant afford water then that really is sad. my last water bill for 2010 gallons was just under 14 bucks. i never have a light on if im not in that room, its just totally wasteful. most of the time at night i will have just the tv on. but on the contrary i also know plenty of people who have 4 or 5 rooms lit up at a time, tv's on, etc. to each his own i guess. it would totally help out TVA during the summers and winter if people would conserve power, most people dont realize that when 33,000 megawatts are pulling from the grid that TVA is having to purchase a lot of that power in order to keep the lights on for most people, which in turn costs the people who gripe about the high power more money, and in reality it was their own fault to begin with.

You obviously don't live in Lexington. Water bills there start at 30.00, and that's not counting sewer. The average is over 50.00. I would encourage anyone living in the Lexington area to keep writing and complaining to anyone who will listen, especially Mayor Herman Jaggers.

quote:

Originally posted by thehippiegirl:

quote:

Originally posted by moodymama:
Is this because of the cost of electricity, hippie, or are these people just conservative? I remember my grandparents not having lights on in a room if they were not in that room and they were just conservative. Of course they lived through the depression and I don't think ever got totally over it.

I wonder how much a town could save by turning off the lights for 1 hour. Or would it lose money because more police would be needed, etc.?

the first ones do it because they were raised that way. i think it's just a habit.
the elderly lady does it to save on her meagar SS income, and i think it's sad she has to do that. she said her neighbor can't afford water, and fills buckets from a friend's outside hose. that breaks my heart.

That is sad that the lady has to get water from the neighbor like that. I remember when I was in Texas that we could check a box on our bill (or online if we paid online) to give a donation to people who could not afford their electricity bill. The company supposedly had to undergo auditing to prove the funds were used properly, but I would think that would be standard operation for a charity. It would be nice if all utilities had a program like that. Do any of the utilities do that in the Shoals area? It would also make a nice fundraiser for an organization.

quote:

Originally posted by FirenzeVeritas:
You obviously don't live in Lexington. Water bills there start at 30.00, and that's not counting sewer. The average is over 50.00. I would encourage anyone living in the Lexington area to keep writing and complaining to anyone who will listen, especially Mayor Herman Jaggers.

Wow! What did the city of Lexington do, install state-of-the-art equipment? That is a lot!

No, anything but that. Apparently they have old unpaid loans going back to the 1970s. This is just for water pipe installation--not counting the Federal loan for the sewer project.

They refused to have forensic audit to determine if over 40K was missing (about 4 years ago) and they sold the town clinic to pay off their bill to Springfield Water Company.

In short, it's a mess; it's Lexington.

quote:

Originally posted by moodymama:
I remember my grandparents not having lights on in a room if they were not in that room and they were just conservative. Of course they lived through the depression and I don't think ever got totally over it.

I try to get my kids to do this. there is no reason for their lights and TV to be on in their rooms, if they are outside playing.

quote:

Originally posted by Puzzled Mind:
The people who participated in Earth Hour were de-lighted.

LOL! Good one!