World Silent Day: Harnessing Support to Cool the Earth
Tri Elida Wulansari (18 years old), walked with her friend along the Puputan Margarana Park, in Renon Denpasar, last Sunday morning. Still a student at the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Udayana, Bali, Wulan (as she is called fondly) carried a circle structure made of used cardboard. The cardboard is black in coulur with three white lines forming a pair of smiling lips and eyes. That is the icon of the World Silent Day (WSD) movement.
The WSD idea was first conceived by the Bali Collaboration on Climate Change or KBPI. It is a collaboration among some NGOs in Bali such as Yayasan Wisnu, Bali Organic Association, Pusat Pendidikan Lingkungan Hidup (PPLH) Bali, dan Walhi Bali. KPBI launched the WSD campaign during the UN Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC) in Bali, in 2007.
As the name suggests, WSD is a campaign to refrain from using motor vehicles and electronic appliances for four hours on every March 21. The campaign drew its inspiration from the Nyepi or Silent Day in Bali, to mark the Hindu Bali New Year (where the entire island stops its activities for 24 hours). The aim is to reduce green house gas emission, as an effort to curb global warming and climate change.
Wulan liked the idea and decided to volunteer in disseminating the WSD idea. That Sunday morning, Wulan and her friend was collecting signatures to support international acceptance of WSD on March 21.
Wulan brought with her stickers and leaflets, which she distributed to the people in the park. Her friend was eveready with a form to get signatures. “Don’t forget, on 21 March. Please switch off electronic appliances and do not use vehicles for four hours”, she said.
Wulan has become a volunteer for WSD movement since a month ago, together with 15 other young people. They come from various universities such as the Hindu University and Udayana University in Bali, and even from Muhamamadiyah university in Malang, East Java.
WSD has volunteers in other places such as Bandung and Yogya, and also from Germany that support the movement.
The volunteers actively look for support by getting signatures. Every Saturday and Sunday for the past month, they campaigned on the WSD at public places such as malls, the beach and the parks.
On that Sunday 14 March, about 15 youths made speeches asking people to sign the form at the other end of the Renon park. Some of them distributed leaflets and stickers. Others held banners and urged people to support their cause.
According to Siska Kusumadewi, the coordinator of KBPI, they have collected 7.025 signatures so far. Their target is 10 million signatures. With 10 million signatures, they intend to send this to the UN and ask that the UN formalize the WSD.
KBPI also has a cyberspace campaign through www.worldsilentday.org. The volunteers are also harnessing support through Facebook, with an Indonesian group called Movement for ten million Facebookers to support WSD. Up to Monday 15 March, they have 5000 members. The English version is coming up.
According to Wulan, this campaign is a form of gratitude to the mother earth. The earth has given us a lot of things. Now it is our turn to thank mother earth, by doing something small – being silent for four hours.
“this may be a small gesture, but it is significant for the earth”, Wulan said.
Text and Photo by Anton Muhajir.
