YouTube Is Turning Off the Lights for Earth Hour

YouTube is joining this year's Earth Hour initiative. For an hour later today, 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm in your local time zone, people and organizations will be turning out the lights, partially to save energy, but mostly to make a statement and show their support for a greener future. Or maybe to just feel better about themselves and have something to brag about.

Regardless of what some critics may say about the initiative, Earth Hour has taken off in the four years it's been around. Starting in 2007 in Australia, it was observed in 128 countries last year.

This year, no doubt, the number will be even bigger. Along with people turning off the lights, companies and organizations are also joining, providing an even more effective example.

"In 2007, organizers in Sydney came up with the idea for Earth Hour, a specific time when local residents would conserve energy by collectively turning off their lights. Since then, Earth Hour has grown into a global movement," YouTube wrote.

"Earth Hour 2011 will take place on Saturday, March 26, from 8:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. (your local time) and this year YouTube is joining the movement by 'turning the lights down' on the site," it announced.

"During this hour, the YouTube watch page will be darkened. If you prefer the normal watch page experience, there will be the option to turn the light switch back 'on'," it explained.

As the trolls will point out, making a website background black rather than white actually raises energy consumption since (the vast majority of) LCD screens actually need more power to display a black background.

It doesn't really matter, the move is symbolic anyway. When a major site such as YouTube makes such a big change, people notice. If this will actually lead them to think more about energy consumption is anyone's guess.