For those of you who didn't hear about it, which may be many of you, Earth Hour happened over spring break. Across the globe on March 29, from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. people turned their lights out as a statement and action promoting energy awareness and conservationism, hence the name Earth Hour. In the states, there were rallies and events, and even bridges like the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco dimmed their lights. In other words, this was a huge deal in the Green Revolution.

Guess who missed out? We did. That's right, Portland missed this fantastic chance to flash its green grin. Portland, the city who was considered one of the nation's top ten green cities by The National Geographic's "Green Guide," failed to recognize this event. Some Portlanders did hear about it, though. When I was at Rimsky-Korsakoffee House in Southeast Portland, at 8 p.m. sharp they turned out the lights and set candles on all the tables. But when I called some of my "greenest friends," they had no idea why I was asking, "Did you turn off your lights?" Thank goodness some of us knew.

But as a whole, instead of turning off our lights and igniting some nice hippy candles like the rest of the nation would expect Portland to do, we flicked on our television to watch the Blazers. Now don't get me wrong, I love the Blazers. I am an avid fan. But, they were still playing after 9 p.m., when the lights and electricity was to be on again, and they lost anyway.

Like others, I am truly disappointed in Portland. I love that we are a city that is proud to be green. We promote and possess great public transportation, we're one of the most bike friendly cities, and you can just tell by talking to the people here that environmental lifestyle options are hot on their minds. I definitely don't do everything green, but I do a good amount of things. But that is exactly why I love things like Earth Hour. I love the chance to do everything green; because it's an official time to be earth friendly, I really like to make the effort, and to know that many Portlanders missed out on this truly breaks my heart. Even Grant's Environmental Club didn't hear about Earth Hour until after the fact.

To make up for this misfortune, Grantonians and the community should pump up Earth Day this upcoming April 22. We can do our own Earth Hour that day, where, when we're at home, we could turn off the main sources of electricity like computers, televisions, and lights for at least one hour. During the bright and sunny glorious day, when we could have our lights off anyway, we should plant flowers and trees in our yards and gardens. Buy local only for the day, because supporting local is always a great green choice, and it's yummy for food choices. If you need to go to the store that's three blocks away, walk. Don't do any unnecessary driving. You could carpool to work or school that day, or walk to your lunch location. Pick up some trash, and forget about buying bottled water for the day. And while you're brushing your teeth, turn off the faucet and save three gallons of water.

If you want a more hands on activity, on the Saturday before Earth Day, April 19, you can come to Grant from 9 a.m. to noon to plant along the chain link fence splitting the staff parking lot and the park. You can bug your teachers for extra credit, or get hours for NHS. The Environmental club is working with an AmeriCorps member, who works for the district, to get grant money for the plants, and possible money for utilities. If you come, bring some gardening gloves for you and to share, and be ready to get down and dirty in an activity that will ultimately help make our water cleaner.

Also, the Environmental Club may have a booth in center hall or posts in the bulletin, so look out for that, too. And if you're busy on the 19th, then head to Grant on the following Saturday, April 26, for a Grant cleanup day.

All this is easy really, especially if it's for one day. Though it would be ideal to do it all the time everyday, that's not the reality for many when considering money, convenience, and time. But for this one day we call Earth Day, let's do it. Let's all make the choice to be green for a day. We missed Earth Hour, so the least we can do is go all out for Earth Day.