At 8 p.m. last night, Chicago was one of 26 major cities and more than 300 other cities and towns around the world turning off its lights in observance of the World Wildlife Fund’s Earth Hour. Begun last year in Sydney, Australia, this year’s consciousness-raising event was observed in Atlanta, Copenhagen, Melbourne, San Francisco, Dublin, Dubai, Cebu City, Tel Aviv and most of Australia and Canada, among other places.

In Chicago, many downtown buildings turned off all non-essential lighting. Why not do it all the time? A Commonwealth Edison spokesperson announced that power consumption in the region was five percent less than the same hour period the previous Saturday.

I did the dinner dishes by candlelight while Zoe played the piano.