About Lights Out America

Background

Lights Out America is a nationwide energy conservation event on March 29, 2008. On this night, we invite the entire nation to turn off all non-essential lighting for one hour. To promote long-lasting energy saving, we ask that everyone install at least one compact fluorescent light bulbs throughout the nation.

You may ask: what good does one hour and one light bulb do? What do we hope to accomplish?

Our nation’s growing appetite for energy must be controlled to protect our planet from the effects of the climate crisis. We estimate that turning lights out in America for even one hour could save as much as 15 percent of the energy consumed on an average Saturday night. The ongoing benefits of installing CFLs in your house are also significant.

This savings will reduce carbon emissions into our air, preserve the natural resources used to produce this energy, set a positive precedent for the rest of the nation, and result in ongoing reduced costs for the city, taxpayers, and businesses.

We’re asking people of America to join together that night throughout cities across the nation to watch the lights go out. We’ll publish the energy-saving results on this website. We plan to make Lights Out America a recurring event and part of a wider effort to promote energy-saving consciousness throughout the country.

We were inspired by a similar event recently held in Sydney, Australia, called Earth Hour. In Sydney, 2.2 million people participated. Their one hour of lights out meant that 24.86 tons of carbon dioxide were not released into the air - the equivalent of taking 48,613 cars off the road for one hour.

Of course, we’d hope for the same or better here.

Thus far, Lights Out has received a tremendous amount of support and very positive responses to our efforts. People in cities across the country, and even around the world, have contacted us in hopes of organizing Lights Out events in their own towns. Our hope is that the October 20th events will lay the groundwork necessary to implement an annual national lights out effort beginning in March of 2008. Lights Out America is a countrywide energy conservation event proposed for Saturday, March 29, 2008. If you’re interested in facilitating participation in your city, please email info@lightsoutamerica.org.

How can you get involved? We’re glad you asked. Your support is critical to making Lights Out America a success.

If you are a business or individual, pledge your support to turn your non-essential lighting off on March 29. If you are interested in volunteering or helping us, email us at volunteer@lightsoutamerica.org. You can also DONATE NOW.

You can subscribe to our newsletter to receive periodic event updates, or view our Blog. Also, help us spread the news by telling a friend. Of course, we will not share personal information with any third parties. Read our privacy policy.
Many thanks!