Last night, "Earth Hour" passed with nary a difference in our neighbourhood. We put out all lights in our house, turned off the TV and computers, lit up some candles, and had a glass of wine. Before the earth hour we had watched an episode of the "Cosmos" (Derek gave us the CD series for Christmas), and discussed the subject of that episode ("Backbone of the Night") while the lights were out.
Occasionally, I looked out of our front window to see whether other people had turned off any lights - nobody else seemed to have done so. Windows were still lit, outdoor lights were on, and the clouds were as bright as ever from the stray city lights.
For all the talk about preserving the environment, cutting energy consumption, making a smaller "footprint" on our planet, our neighbourhood at least gets a failing grade in that regard from me.