Zero Emissions Day, or ZeDay, as it is commonly referred to, is intended to be a temporary respite from using fossil fuels, to increase awareness of this finite resource and how we might change our actions on a daily basis to conserve it.
Canadian Graphic Design company, Sealevel, first conceived ZeDay in 2008, with the mission of “giving the planet one day off a year.” Since then, ZeDay has become a worldwide movement and is observed annually often with a different theme encouraging collective action and creativity.
The date was chosen because the length of days and nights are equal, and the amount of light is fair to those in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres.
Cutting carbon emissions is the driving force behind the Paris Agreement, which is widely acknowledged as a necessity if global temperatures are to be kept below the 2-degree limit. This should be done by reducing emissions as soon as possible, in order to "achieve a balance between anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of greenhouse gases" in the second half of the 21st century. Yet for many cities, reliance on coal, oil and natural gas for power remains high, which in turn contributes to increased carbon emissions.
How to participate in ZeDay for 24 hours:
- Do not use gas, oil, or coal, and use minimal or no electricity generated by fossil fuel
- Minimise or even eliminate the use of electricity powered by fossil fuels
- Opt for clean and renewable sources of energy like solar, wind and biogas
It is crucial that we as a society are sensitive to the consumption of fossil fuels for various purposes. Electricity derived from fossil fuels is the biggest contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. Consequently, these emissions contribute to global warming and climatic changes ranging from sea level rise to changes in precipitation patterns and extreme weather events.
The day thus strongly encourages everyone globally to go off fossil fuels and hence reduce their carbon footprint, which collectively would make an enormous impact.