Saturday Night Lights: Celebrating Earth Hour

Sure, it's only Tuesday. But, really, is it ever too early to start making weekend plans? This week, as you're thinking about what to do on Saturday night, remember that Earth Hour is observed on March 28 at 8:30 p.m. Taking part in this global event is easy: wherever you are at 8:30 -- regardless of time zone -- simply turn out the lights for 60 minutes and show your support for encouraging world leaders to take action combating global warming. Observing Earth Hour doesn't need to be serious or somber; if anything, it's a great excuse to come up with fun and easy ways to reduce your carbon footprint. What's one of the most straightforward? Simply burning a scented candle as you switch off your lights. If you're looking for one that smells great, isn't too expensive, and even has a charity component, an ideal choice is a soy candle from Pacifica's Malibu Lemon Blossom range. Pacifica has been around for over a decade; its product line includes perfumes and scented body lotions as well as candles. Everything they offer is made with natural ingredients that are never tested on animals, and all the products are sold in fully recyclable packaging. The candles are based from soy (instead of animal-produced beeswax) and are made without lead wicks. And, in case you're not a fan of the citrusy smell of lemons, the line includes a laundry list of fabulous scents, from fruits and flowers to spices and culinary aromas like Mexican chocolate and Thai lemongrass. Since the fragrances are formulated from natural and essential oils, the scents are quite potent but never distractingly intense. The Malibu Lemon Blossom collection was introduced last year, inspired by the heady scent of perfume mixed with salty ocean water after a day at the beach. It's a smell that the company's founders, who are avid surfers, are very familiar with. Like so many coastlines around the world, the Malibu beachfront they love is facing the issue of polluted waters just off its shores, so Pacifica has earmarked a percentage of sales from this entire lemon-scented collection to Ocean Liberation, a non-profit organization it's started to raise money for cleaning up the Pacific Ocean's waters off the Malibu coast. Pacifica offers several sizes of the Malibu Lemon Blossom candles, including a substantial pillar candle that's just eight bucks. That's right: for less than the price of a delivery pizza on Saturday night, you can get a beautifully scented candle that promises to burn for around 30 hours. And, for at least one hour on the 28th, we encourage you to enjoy its delicate fragrance with the lights turned off. For more information on Pacifica's Malibu Lemon Blossom collection, go to www.pacificaperfume.com. From Rachel Felder of Tonic.com