Our first bright idea was, in fact, to turn out the lights. The reasons to do so are manifold: less energy used, less dependence on fossil fuels, less heat, less buzz. We realized that with our office lights out, our working space is sufficiently illuminated by the front window as well as a skylight in the back that we barely noticed when the strong CFLs were on. On sunny days, extra artificial light - and especially heat – pouring into our rooms is definitely unnecessary, and we quickly found that working in natural light feels healthier and more calming. Over the course of several days, and as we adopted this practice in our homes as well as the office, our observations grew more subtle and interesting: by letting our eyes adjust to natural light levels, we became more aware of the weather, the luminous qualities of summer, the gentle wind-down of nightfall…in a small way, the simple act of using fewer indoor lights can sensitize us to the natural world, attuning us to rhythms we’ve been disconnected from for a long time. And as Vanessa pointed out in her book, showering in the dark is just lovely. We still turn on the CFLs when it’s cloudy - which, granted, may end up being most of the winter – and some have commented that without the lights on the office looks closed from the street. We’ll continue to work out minimum requirements for artificial light, but this little change has already led to some pretty neat insights and experiences. Visit this BC Hydro site for a ton of interesting info about light usage & passive solar: http://www.bchydro.com/guides_tips/green-your-home/lighting_guide.html Find out what it means to participate in Earth Hour & “vote earth”: www.earthhour.org