I have a little piece of info that I have wanted to clarify for you (OK and for me) for some time now. It’s something that Sydney-siders go ga-ga over every year. Kind of like our intro to summer. Daylight Savings.
Dating back to the days of our great grandfathers and grandmothers in the U.S of A (of course), during World War 1, the idea of the longer lighting was to save money on fuel. ‘Really?’ I hear you all gasp in astonishment?! Yes! Hard to believe, I know.
So, why do we still have daylight savings then? I mean, yes, understandable that many years ago our grandfathers wanted to save money (I can only hear my grandfather, too clearly, yelling at me to turn the light off when I walk out of a room, not to mention my dad). But, what is the meaning behind the extending of the days during the warmer months? Is it a plea for employers to prolong the working days? So we sit at our computer screens for that extra hour and then don’t realise it’s 7 o’ clock til the cleaner comes in and starts vacuuming around our feet. Is it so we can go to the beach at the end of the working day? I doubt the government would have been that giving!
I have done my research on the subject and it seems that one of the main reasons that daylight savings has been up kept is actually quite simple: safety. Hmmm. Some people believe that if we have more daylight at the end of the day then we will have less accidents. I,
for one will not support that ‘theory’. It was less than a week ago when I got an early mark from work and crashed up the bum of the vehicle in front of me. And trust me; it was pretty damn light outside. The accident was caused due to my delayed response to watch what was going on in front of me (duh). It had nothing to do with the sun setting. I have been in a handful of accidents in my life and 100% of them have been in the day. Maybe I’m just lucky?
Basically, I think it comes down to the fact that these days we are more eco-aware. We want to do more to help our slowly disintegrating home we call Earth. Therefore, having the sun’s light keeping our lives lit for longer each day (was that a tongue twister for anyone?) means saving a hell of a lot more electricity and energy, which, in turn makes our Carbon footprint less, um imprinted.
Personally, I LOVE daylight savings and I think a lot of people would agree with me. It marks the start of the warmer months and the Sayonara of the cooler ones.
Dating back to the days of our great grandfathers and grandmothers in the U.S of A (of course), during World War 1, the idea of the longer lighting was to save money on fuel. ‘Really?’ I hear you all gasp in astonishment?! Yes! Hard to believe, I know.
So, why do we still have daylight savings then? I mean, yes, understandable that many years ago our grandfathers wanted to save money (I can only hear my grandfather, too clearly, yelling at me to turn the light off when I walk out of a room, not to mention my dad). But, what is the meaning behind the extending of the days during the warmer months? Is it a plea for employers to prolong the working days? So we sit at our computer screens for that extra hour and then don’t realise it’s 7 o’ clock til the cleaner comes in and starts vacuuming around our feet. Is it so we can go to the beach at the end of the working day? I doubt the government would have been that giving!
I have done my research on the subject and it seems that one of the main reasons that daylight savings has been up kept is actually quite simple: safety. Hmmm. Some people believe that if we have more daylight at the end of the day then we will have less accidents. I,
for one will not support that ‘theory’. It was less than a week ago when I got an early mark from work and crashed up the bum of the vehicle in front of me. And trust me; it was pretty damn light outside. The accident was caused due to my delayed response to watch what was going on in front of me (duh). It had nothing to do with the sun setting. I have been in a handful of accidents in my life and 100% of them have been in the day. Maybe I’m just lucky?Basically, I think it comes down to the fact that these days we are more eco-aware. We want to do more to help our slowly disintegrating home we call Earth. Therefore, having the sun’s light keeping our lives lit for longer each day (was that a tongue twister for anyone?) means saving a hell of a lot more electricity and energy, which, in turn makes our Carbon footprint less, um imprinted.
Personally, I LOVE daylight savings and I think a lot of people would agree with me. It marks the start of the warmer months and the Sayonara of the cooler ones.
Daylight savings starts this weekend! Come Sunday you can all breathe a sigh of relief as we lose an hour. Why, you ask? Well, I'll be getting on a flight from Melbourne to Sydney. It departs at 7am. Which actually means it departs at 6am. Which means I will be getting up at 5am. So think of me while you're all sleeping in.
Peace Out,
Girl Next Door xoxo
1 comments:
I have a love/hate relationship with daylight savings. I like the longer daylight, but i hate having to get up earlier. Without daylight savings though, my birthday would have been the day before...
gg xx
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