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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, March 22, 2013 | 6 Editorial It's just an hour, make a difference Small, but mighty. One hour, one person... can make a lot of difference. In the grand scheme of things, we can ask what's one hour or one person? But sometimes it's all it takes. Just like those who would prefer to change something, but question what one person can do to make it happen, one hour of time or a simple act of turning off some power for that time can add up to something very signi cant. This Saturday marks Earth Hour. It began in Sydney, Australia in 2007 and was picked up around the globe the following year. It has taken place ever since. Sponsored by the World Wildlife Federation (WWF), and supported by governments, institutions, corporations and individuals, it asks that people reduce their power consumption for one hour. It's a lesson in energy conservation. As tallies are compiled and the individual efforts are measured and rolled into one, the amount of energy that is saved becomes staggering. As Mayor Rob Burton said, "Every Oakville resident has a direct impact on this earth. Unplug for 60 minutes during Earth Hour and make a difference in reducing our ecological footprint." Just as one small bad habit can snowball into much trouble, so, too, can one good deed, one cost-saving measure, or one respectful act toward Mother Nature, mushroom into much reduction in wastefulness. Compared to our forebears, we are lucky to have reaped the bene ts of science, research and technology, however, it is a human tendency to begin taking blessings for granted and even becoming wasteful with them through thoughtless actions. We leave things on when we don't need them, we create or acquire things we don't really need. We can be wasteful, thoughtless. We may mean no harm, but harm is done, sometimes unbeknownst to us. A running tap is akin to a crime in the eyes of those who must travel and carry water, often contaminated, in other countries. For those who have none or very little lighting, heating, food, our excesses are abhorrent. Like a smile to a stranger in the course of our day, a gesture that is simple, but may mean the world to that stranger, a few small acts can mean the world to our planet, climate, animals, fellow people. Earth Hour is a one-hour lesson to remind us how we should conduct ourselves through the course of all our days. It is not just one hour. It is a lesson that should stay in our consciousness all day, every day. It is a basis from which we should govern our own actions. And if we all did so, the bene ts to ourselves, our neighbours, communities and the world itself would be amazing. Turn off the lights Saturday at 8:30 p.m. It's just an hour. "Connected to your Community" 467 Speers Road, Oakville ON, L6K 3S4 General Inquiries: (905) 845-3824 Editorial Department: (905) 632-0588 Fax: (905) 337-5566 Classi ed Advertising: (905) 632-4440 Circulation: 5300 Harvester Rd., Burlington (905) 631-6095 Volume 51 | Number 35 The Oakville Beaver is a division of Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. Vice ­President and Group Publisher of Metroland West Regional General Manager Halton Region Editor in Chief Advertising Director NEIL OLIVER DAVID HARVEY JILL DAVIS DANIEL BAIRD Managing Editor ANGELA BLACKBURN RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director Business Manager Director of Production SANDY PARE MARK DILLS He's setting the record straight That's Life Andy Juniper Guest Contributor My View MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager Director of Distribution CHARLENE HALL KIM MOSSMAN Circulation Manager T he other day it came to light my kids consider me to be technologically challenged -- which I believe is a polite way of saying they think I'm what late-great novelist Robertson Davies termed a "technomoron," your basic Luddite who not only fails to grasp technological change, but who also opposes it. Well, I had to sit these uninformed ingrates down and let them know in no uncertain terms -- and I used small words so that they would be sure to understand -- that I'm a contemporary, cutting-edge kind of guy. Then, I embellished and told them that my nickname back in the day was actually... Cutting-Edge Andy. Kids, I said, consider this: back when I started in journalism in Thunder Bay, I worked for a newspaper out tted with electric typewriters. At the time, this was super-advanced. Most newshounds in that era were still pawing away on manual typewriters and using correction uid -- a lousy typist's best friend. Fast forward a few years and I was a reporter at The Woodstock Sentinel-Review, the very publication Thomson newspapers used as a guinea pig in the implemen- tation of the chain's rst computer system. Of course, we had no clue how to use this newfangled equipment, and it was an absolute nightmare with breakdowns pretty much every day, typically during deadlines. Whenever a breakdown occurred, our managing editor's face turning the calming colour of crimson, would rush about the newsroom yelling: "Power down! Power down!" No one knew what this meant, but we took it as a cue to take a long coffee break since no work could be done until a technician arrived from Toronto. Pretty impressive, eh kids? Well, here's more. When I was writing my rst novel, a techie-type friend loaned me his "portable computer" -- which 99 per cent of the population did not know even existed at the time -- so I could work wherever, whenever. This baby was cutting edge (ah, that term again). It stood three-feet high and had a tough turtle-like case to protect its delicate innards. And it was indeed portable -- at least as portable as any awkward, oddly shaped, 100-pound piece of newfangled technology could be. Once I threw out my back hoisting it out of my car. Today, I run a sports-humour website and although the delusional guy who created the site for me made it simple, I can tell you I gured out all its inherent aws in no time. Yep, every so often Mr. Delusional Website Creator gets a panicked call from Cutting Edge Andy, shouting frantically: "Power down! Power down!" See kids, I know the lingo. I ain't no Luddite. -- Andy Juniper can be contacted at ajjuniper@gmail. com, found on Facebook www.facebook.com, or followed on Twitter at www.twitter .com/thesportjesters. Proud Official Media Sponsor For: Canadian Circulations Audit Board Member Recognized for Excellence by Ontario Community Newspapers Association Canadian Community Newspapers Association Proud Official Media Sponsor For: ATHENA Award The Oakville Beaver welcomes letters from its readers. Letters will be edited for clarity, length, legal considerations and grammar. In order to be published all letters must contain the name, address and phone number of the author. Letters should be addressed to: The Editor, Oakville Beaver, 467 Speers Rd., Oakville ON, L6K 3S4, or via e-mail to: ablackburn@oakvillebeaver. com. The Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish a letter. The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. The council is located at 80 Gould St., Suite 206, Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M7. Phone 416-340-1981. Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of a typographical error, that portion of advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline.