Calendar: Earth Hour

This will be my family's first Earth Hour and it's all very exciting.

I remember the good old days of childhood ("Mum, were things in black and white when you were little?") when we'd have the occasional blackout and mum would scrabble around for the candles or the torch that invariably had no batteries.

But now we're causing a deliberate blackout and excitement of all excitements, we're doing it at Granny's house in Melbourne, where they kids are already beyond excited. They want to stay up for it - which is incredulous to me. But then I suppose, don't we take power for granted? Isn't a blackout, especially a deliberate one, a novelty when we become so reliant on reliable light?

So we'll be sitting pretty in the dark tonight, snuggling into throw rugs and whispering (you always must whisper in the dark), probably with chocolate or chips stuffed in our cheeks.

We feel thrilled to be part of this micro-move to nursing our ailing planet.

The first Earth Hour was held in Australia in 2007, when 2.2 million Australians turned off their lights - and the initiative has already become a worldwide phenomenon. See www.earthhour.org/home for more.

How will you spend your most honorable hour of darkness?