The problem with Earth Hour celebrations

The other night was Earth Hour, and I know deep in my heart that the event wanted nothing but positive results in favor of Mother Earth. But you know what the problem with this celebration is?

After watching the news about the "celebrations" of Earth Hour, I know right then and there that it probably has caused some bigger problems and misguided belief. At MOA and many public places in the Metro, they turned the lights off for an hour. Good. They probably have saved energy consumption for X amount. The problem with this? People who participated in the event lighted soooo many candles for an hour. And what is the problem with lighting so many candles? I did a little research:

A burning candle produces 13 lumens (this is from a total power output of 40 W) and emits 10.69 g of carbon dioxide per hour. If you are wondering how much 13 lumens is, well, a 40 W bulb produces 500 lumens. Guesstimate. That brightness, if produced by an electric bulb, will emit 1.11 g of carbon dioxide. See how much carbon dioxide is emitted by the candles used by people who participated in the celebration? It's 1000% more than using the equivalent brightness produced by electric bulb.

But hey, don't get me wrong. Mathematically speaking, I know last night's Earth hour saved a lot of energy as well as carbon emission. For one, we didn't really replace every light bulb switched off with 40 candles (the equivalent number of candles if brightness of a 40-W bulb is matched with the brightness produced by candles). Also, I know that Earth Hour is more of igniting awareness, as a start, than "actual result" in that particular event.

My point is we could have maximized this if, instead of using hundreds (or probably thousands) of candles, just retain a few lights on to minimize greenhouse gas emissions. Or, they could have just requested malls and many offices to close an hour earlier.

Or maybe, ask fastfood joints not to sell beef burger for an hour and maybe, just encourage them to sell chicken burger or fried chicken. Why? Because beef actually emits 146 times (14,600 percent!) more greenhouse gas than chicken.

Di ba?

I know I'm just nitpicking here. But hey, this is awareness at its best. :-)

PS: I'm doing Earth Day next Friday! That's 8-10 times worth of Earth Hour. So, I won't be joining you guys until 2021 (and by that time, I would have done hundreds of Earth Days again).

I love you, Mother Earth.