Earth Hour update and another video involving light

Earth Hour was a huge success. Millions of people world-wide shut their lights off for an hour to make a statement regarding climate change. Nashville, which is trying to become one of the greenest cities in America, was one of this year’s flagship cities. I headed downtown for the event and it was pretty neat. Lower Broadway, where Nashville’s Honky Tonks (Country music bars) are located was almost completely dark. Iconic neon signs like the ones on Tootsie’s, Jack’s BBQ, and Robert’s Western World were darkened. Key structures like the Bell South Tower, Shelby Street Pedestrian Bridge, Sommet Center, and Parthenon were nearly lightless.

Here is a before shot of the Nashville Skyline. Please remember the event was held on a Saturday and many businesses shut their lights off before leaving on Friday. Here is the after shot. Are they as impressive as I hoped? Not really, but I still think Nashville did a good job. Those clowns in the suburbs could have done better though.

Here is a link a Boston Globe photo essay showing monuments all over the world that went dark in celebration of Earth Hour. You can click on any photo and see it go from fully lit to dark. My favorite is the one of Las Vegas. It’s amazing to see how dark a city known for it’s neon lights was able to get.

In other light-related news, check out this video. Some shepards outfitted their flocks with LED lights and through some really well coordinated sheep-hearding were able to make some art and “animations”