Zero Emissions Day

Zero Emissions Day is an annual 24 hour global moratorium on the combustion of fossil fuels, on September 21.

The vision statement for ZeDay was posted to the WWW in 12 languages on March 21, 2008. The message was composed by Ken Wallace of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, with design and translation assistance from Samuel Littlefair-Wallace, Ramzi Kawar (Arabic), Annette C. Oelschlaegel and Han F. Vermeulen (Dutch, German, and Russian), and Daiv Mobray (Spanish).

The voluntary 24-hour observance follows four simple guidelines:
1. Don't burn oil, gasoline, gas, or coal
2. Minimize or eliminate the use of electricity generated by oil or gas or coal.
3. Don't take it to extremes: essential and emergency services should operate normally.
4. Do your best, simplify your activities, have fun, and enjoy the day!

This is a grassroots initiative that coincides with the International Day of Peace as established by United Nations resolution, to be observed as a Global Ceasefire and day of peace and nonviolence.

Origins

The idea for a global moratorium on fossil fuel use has likely occurred to many people. The current effort was inspired by a similar one in the late 1980s, when Wallace met with three other members of the Halifax Buddhist community (David Burkholder, Denny Blouin, and Mark Spakowski) to discuss posting a meme to USENET calling for a one-day moratorium on the combusion of fossil fuels. The resulting document was posted via an Internet connection at Dalhousie University. A few positive comments came back. It is unknown to what extent the message propagated.

In April 2007, Bill Koeb, an artist living in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, secured the domains zeroemissionsday.org and zeroemmissionsday.com. He later described his initial inspiration in this way:

"This is a call to action, or rather, a call to inaction," Koeb said. "Pick a day, any day, and for that day stop making emissions. Don't turn on the lights, television, or any other appliances. Don't drive. How badly would anyone miss driving, running their lights, their ovens, lawn mowers, blowers, or computers for just one single day?

For one day of your life, don't take any action that will result in any increase of greenhouse gasses . If you can't do it for a whole day, pick two days and split your inaction between them. You could do it on a Sunday. If there is a God, do you think he/she would mind you missing church for a day in order to help heal the planet?

The results could be astounding. Imagine 100 people not releasing any GHGs for an entire day. That's 100 fewer cars on the road during the morning commute. Now, instead of just 100, or 1,000, or 100,000 people, imagine the impact if several million stopped using their machines for a day.

I ask you to join me for a day of inaction to turn back the clock and reduce planetary emissions to zero for just one day."

The domains remained parked until May, 2008, when Wallace, eager to expedite the project, contacted Koeb. In strategy discussions, it became evident that both felt motivated by similar artistic themes. They decided that a one-pointed program would likely be best in the near term, and with that in mind, Koeb transferred the domains to Wallace.

Conclusion

Among numerous mass initiatives aimed at preventing or mitigating energy, resource, and environmental crises, Zero Emissions Day is distinctive in calling for a concrete, united day of action to focus awareness on choices of habitual behaviors that tend toward oblivion, in more ways than one. It is an ambitious communications project with a simple message: Everyone on the planet can participate in concrete, coordinated, and globally beneficial acts of sanity.

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