On March 28, 2009, 8:30 pm, local time, the community of Igiugig proudly shut off all lights to participate in Earth Hour. Earth Hour began in Sydney in 2007, when 2.2 million homes and businesses switched off their lights for one hour. In 2009, Earth Hour’s goal was to have 1 billion people switch off their lights; Igiugig was the only community in Alaska to participate. Earth Hour was started to bring light to global warming.

For weeks before the event, Igiugig’s Environmental Department (consisting of April Hostetter and me) sent fliers, put up posters, made home visits and public announcements about our village’s participation. We wanted to make sure we had 100% involvement.

The evening of March 28th was calm and snow drifts quietly formed as each house powered down for an hour. Dolly Ann and I took out the camera and started documenting Earth Hour in Igiugig. Together we walked the empty streets of Igiugig. It was if each household wanted to savor the moment, enjoy the company of their families, or just enjoy the peace, like Mary Olympic stated, “I like this, this is how it was when I was a kid, no TV, no light(s), nothing, just quiet.” She enjoyed sitting in her house, watching the daylight fade to dusk and reminiscing on her childhood.

In the Andrew household, the children had flashlights and headlamps on, excited to participate for the first time in this global event. They sat together as a family and read books until bed time. At the other end of town, Barbara Brown, the local health aide, curled on up her couch covered in a comfy blanket and enjoyed the heat of her wood stove. Next door to her, the Salmon family, grandchildren included lit candles and played card games. The younger kids ate chips and enjoyed desserts won at the dessert auction earlier in the day. The Alvarez’s remembered the many days spent at their house before they were connected to the village generator.

When 9:30 pm neared, it finally became darker out. I went out behind the village one last time to capture our participation in this wonderful movement. All the weeks spent on motivating and encouraging village participation were nearing the end. I was secretly sad the time had gone by so fast. Sitting around with my family and other families participating was peaceful and rewarding.

Igiugig is proof that size doesn’t matter; it’s the effort that counts. We chose to participate in this world wide event and made a stand for something we believe in, caring for Earth.