With ZeDay just around the corner, it’s time to think about the environment and maybe change some of your lifestyle choices to become greener citizens. For those who don’t know what ZeDay is, the holiday is a call for everyone to find ways to not create carbon emissions for 24 hours. The September 21 holiday asks people to emit as little emissions as possible for the day to help the environment.

The guidelines for ZeDay are simple enough:

• Don’t use or burn oil, gas or coal
• Minimize or eliminate your use of electricity generated by fossil fuels
• All essential and emergency services can run normally
• Enjoy your day while trying to be environmentally conscious

This day also helps bring the growing level of CO2 emissions into focus, a problem which seems to keep growing every year.

In 2012, 34.5 billion tons of CO2 emissions were produced globally, accounting for 82 percent of all greenhouse gases produced. The United States and the European Union managed to cut their emissions by about a fourth each, generating around 16 percent and 11 percent of emissions, respectively. China increased its emissions to 29 percent, which is low considering China’s annual increases have been about 10 percent over the last decade.

Even with these reductions from the world’s top three emission producers, the amount of CO2 emissions still increased in 2012.

Global emission growth has been on the rise since the 1960s, with the amount of emissions tripling since then. One of the largest contributors from these growing emissions has been from the Asia Pacific area, particularly China. From 1985 to 2011, China’s emissions have risen from around 4.5 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide to around 15 billion metric tons.

Carbon dioxide emissions mostly come from coal, oil and gas emissions, accounting for a total of 94 percent of all emissions. By taking a day off from using items that produce these emissions, it’s possible to help the environment in a large way. It’s also possible that you find ways of cutting emissions in your daily life, helping reduce your carbon footprint yearly without exerting too much effort.

Another aspect of this day is how much money you could save just by participating. Imagine all that gas and electricity money you could be saving by finding ways of producing little to no emissions. You might even find aspects of your life where you can cut corners and save money for other endeavors. So while you might not support a greener environment, you might be supportive of another green cause.

So take some time and figure out how you can spend one day out of the year producing little to no emissions as possible. It’s just one day, so why not give it a try? You might find it’s easier than you think.

For more information on the event, visit http://zeroemissionsday.org or ZeDay’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/zeday/.