More publicity, and some great website updates

Stopglobalwarming.org founder Laurie David sent info on LOSF to 11th Hour Action. We are now featured in their Community News!

We’re making progress with the San Francisco Opera and the San Francisco Symphony. Our hope is to have performers from both at our celebrations.

Check out our updated Supporters and FAQ pages.

Many thanks to our new supporters! They are: The California League of Conservation Voters, Gap Inc., Internation Dark Sky Association, Sports Basement, and Working Assets.

Also, LOSF wants to thank Tides Center for taking us on as a project.

Lights Out (insert your city's name here)

After a fruitful Steering Committee meeting yesterday, we’re moving full-steam ahead. We’ve got a new office space, and are about to print posters, brochures, and handouts. Keep an eye out for our info in storefronts and restaurants. Special thanks to Nick Rubenstein and Mabel Liang for all their amazing design work!

Pete’s Tavern has graciously offered their space for us to host a fundraiser. Please join us there from 5-8pm on September 13, and contribute to a great cause!

We’re getting noticed on the national level! We were featured in the stopglobalwarming.org August 29, 2007 newsletter.

We would like to extend our appreciation to the folks around the world who have expressed interest in starting a Lights Out movement in their own cities. We truly appreciate your support! Right now, we need to focus our energy on LOSF, but would like to move on to other cities after out project is done. It’s a short time frame for this year, but please turn your lights out on Oct. 20 in solidarity. We have had a lot of success with Lights Out San Francisco, and our hope is to move the event national with Lights Out America. Tentatively we are looking at March for a national event. Sign up for the SF event and we will keep you informed about the national effort and will work with you on coordinating your area. Please stay tuned to our website and this blog for more information.

Dark skies are a good thing.

More great news. The International Dark Sky Association (IDA) has joined us as a supporter! Their mission is “to preserve and protect the nighttime environment and our heritage of dark skies through quality outdoor lighting.” I'm looking forward to seeing some stars on October 20th!

Here’s some more green news: "Existing technologies combined with common sense design can increase energy efficiency by 35 percent and reduce heating costs by 80 percent for the average building in industrialized markets," says United Technologies Corporation Chairman and Chief Executive George David. See Global Survey Shows "Green" Construction Costs Dramatically Lower Than Believed for the whole story.

CFL Info

Today I came across a number of interesting pieces of information about CFLs.

Did you know that if every household in California replaced just one regular bulb with a CFL, it would be about the same as removing 85,000 cars from our state’s roads for one year? The CA Energy Quest website has more Illuminating facts about fluorescent bulbs.

How do CFLs compare to normal light bulbs? Find out at HowStuffWorks.

The Integrated Waste Management Board provides information about disposing of CFLs. Learn more from the CIWMB website.

More info to come.

A great finish to another productive week

Today’s been a big day for LOSF! We are now sponsored by Safeway, which will also be helping us distribute information in their stores.

The Golden Gate Bridge Board officially adopted our resolution today. The Bridge will be turning off lights on October 20th in support of LOSF!

A little bird also told me that there may be a Lights Out celebration in Dolores Park on October 20th. Stay tuned for more info...

In other news...

We came across this article The Economist, which addresses a the complexities of recycling. The author concludes that recycling is indeed worth the effort, but there are improvements to be made in the system.

Yesterday, the SF Chronicle shared some good news: Six Western states and parts of Canada join to cut greenhouse gases.

Is radio the new wave in light bulbs? Check out “A light bulb powered by radio waves”, which was posted today to CNET’s News Blog.

Volunteermatch, Flex Your Power, Power Surges, and Ts

We're working hard to get more folks involved in our project. We have a listing on
and would love interested parties to sign up and help with information and CFL distribution.

This morning Nate and I met with Flex Your Power to discuss publicity and exchange ideas. They're a great resource, and we're looking forward to collaborating with them.

I received an email today from a San Francisco resident concerned with the possible occurrence of a power surge when lights are turned back on at 9pm the night of the event. Earth Hour in Sydney (the event which inspired ours) didn't experience a surge when their lights went back on. We've spoken with PG & E, and they don't anticipate a surge here either.

Thanks to Nick Rubenstein, we're finalizing our poster and t-shirt designs. Nick's come up with some fantastic images!

Good things are happening!

We've been so busy brainstorming, organizing, and fundraising that we haven't had time to write. Now we're back, and we got some great news to share!

During the week of August 6th we were officially endorsed by the San Francisco Department of the Environment and featured in the Examiner.

We are now sponsored by both Esurance and Integrated Archive Systems. Yesterday, we secured support from the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition and California Interfaith Power and Light. Other supporters include Flex Your Power, the Golden Gate Restaurant Association, PG&E, SF Climate Challenge, Teacher With the Bus, Rainforest Action Network, and Yahoo!.

We’re making great progress with donations of compact flourescent light bulbs (CFLs). PG&E has donated thousands of bulbs for us to distribute for free throughout San Francisco. We’re aware that there is some controversy over the danger of mercury found in CFLs. According Helen Suh MacIntosh, a professor in environmental health at Harvard University, CFLs are safe. You can read a summary on the issue so you can make your own determination. More information on CFLs can also be found on the Sierra Club website.

Currently, we’re working on reaching out to public and private schools from the elementary to collegiate levels in hopes of educating students about energy conservation and promoting our event. If you’d like to get your school involved, send us an e-mail at rachel@lightsoutsf.org