This Saturday marks the 5th year that citizens from around the world will join forces to switch off lights for one hour.  The cannily named “Earth Hour,”  aside from showing solidarity and expressing concerns over climate change and the environment, happens to be a darn good opportunity to don those corsets, light those candles and indulge in a little period drama reenactment ( As a closet history fanatic I tend to turn to the past for inspiration in most situations).

One rather morose friend of mine claimed that although he’d be turning his lights off for Earth Hour, it didn’t mean he’d be turning his computer or TV off at the same time – which to me seemed rather a wasted opportunity to enjoy the simpler life. If you’re going to turn off the lights – turn it all off, and think about how you’re going to spend that hour in the dark with no modern distractions.

A chronic complaint about environmentalists are their stick-in-the-mud doomsday attitudes that the world is going to hell. Although there is much to be serious about, we can take ourselves far too seriously, which is why this year, during Earth hour I intend to have some frivolous fun in the dark while showing my support for the green cause. To give you a helping hand here are some period piece ideas that I’d like to inspire you with in case you’d like some yester-year fun too:

1. Murder in the Dark:  Ah, an old classic which needs little introduction. However people do tend to be rusty around the rules so here is a link to help you along http://www.partyplan.co.uk/asp/game_031.asp?CategoryId=1
2. Ouija: You don’t need a board (just cut out the alphabet, place in a circle and find a shot glass) but you do need patience and possibly nerves of steel. This is certainly a Victorian classic to be played in a room with flickering candles.
3. Ghost Stories: continuing with the theme above, the Victorians (and pretty much everyone) loved a good ghost story when it got dark. In fact Charles Dickens wrote many an erie tale which were very popular back in his day. http://considertheevidence.tripod.com/id10.html
4. Tarot Cards: Originally, back in the 15th century tarot cards were just regular playing cards however around the 18th century they began to be used for divination. I’ve spent many a happy candle-lit hour with friends pretending to read each others fortunes – I suggest a glass of wine and a scarf over the head of the “teller” does wonders for creating the correct ambience.
5. Blind mans buff – It’s already dark, so blind fold someone and have some fun. Essentially one person is “it”, they cover their eyes and the rest of the group dance around and the person who is “it” has to try and catch them. Can be played inside or out. If you do play inside, make sure you shut the cat out of the room first…

In fact I’m beginning to think that people had more fun back in the day with the lights switched off (and those romantic candles flickering in the dark) than we do today with all of our electric gadgets on.

I hope these suggestions get you started with your plan for a Saturday night in the dark. Whatever you end up doing this Earth Hour, I hope you make a statement on the environment and have some fun at the same time too.

Lara Barbier

Find out what’s going on during Earth Hour 2012

Welcome to our Valentine’s competition.

We were joined on our fabulous sofa by Tom of Tom Flowers, Tola of Chocolat a Toi and David of Ingle and Rhode for a chat about all things ethical.

Watch our 2012 Valentine’s show here.

Our guests very generously agreed to give away prizes to you, our GREEN.TV fans.

Here’s what you can win:

- a bouquet of flowers made by Tom, Creative Director at www.tom-flowers.co.uk

- a personalised chocolate bar from Tola at www.chocolatatoi.com

- a £100 voucher off an engagement ring from David at www.ingleandrhode.co.uk

Without further ado…..just send us an email to contact@green.tv giving us:

- your name
- the country in which you live
- the prize you would like to win

We’ll put all your names in a hat on Valentine’s Day and do a special prize draw (T&Cs below).

Good luck!

1. By entering into this prize promotion all entrants will be deemed to have accepted and be bound by the following rules.
2. The prize promotion is open to all, with the exception of the flowers prize which is only open to UK residents and sent to a UK address.
3. Entrants must be 18 or over. All entrants consent to us contacting them from time to time about GREEN.TV. We will not share details with other companies.
4. All employees of GREEN.TV and their associated companies, their immediate families and anyone involved in the promotion of the competition are excluded from entry.
5. Only one application may be made per person. GREEN.TV will disallow duplicate entries where it finds them. The prize shall be awarded at GREEN.TV’s discretion and if it considers any entrant has acted inappropriately or dishonestly in entering into the competition it reserves the right to refuse to award any prize. No purchase is necessary. GREEN.TV is not responsible for lost entries, delayed entries or mis- transmitted entries.
6. The closing date for entries is 14.02.2012. The prize draw will take place no later than 15.02.2012 and the prize will be awarded to the first three correct entries selected at random.
7. GREEN.TV will notify the winner by email on 15.02.2012.
8. There are three separate prizes. GREEN.TV will select three winners at random. Each winner will win one prize as selected by GREEN.TV. The prizes are one bouquet of flowers from www.tom-flowers.co.uk (bouquet selected by Tom Severn), a personalised bar of chocolate from www.chocolatatoi.com (bar selected by Tola Popoola) and a £100 voucher off engagement rings redeemable at www.ingleandrhode.co.uk. The prize must be booked within one month of winner confirmation.
9. The prize is non-transferable and there is no cash or other alternative. The prize may be taxable and the winner will be responsible for any tax arising.
10. GREEN.TV’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
11. GREEN.TV reserves the right to publish the name of the winner in post event publications and on the GREEN.TV website (www.green.tv). The winner will cooperate with publicity as a result of winning.
12. The promoter of this prize draw is GREEN.TV (“GREEN.TV”) whose registered office is at GREEN.TV, 120 Long Acre, Covent Garden, London WC2E 9PA UK.