The folks behind Shutdown Day are organizing a global computer power down on March 24th so people step away from their computers and out into the world. While the website indicates the event is more of an e-smart mob than an environmental action, it might be early enough to encourage the nearly 14,000 people currently vowing that they can live a day without their computer to not just turn it computer off but also unplug it.

Do cell phones count? I could probably get through a day without my computer, but I'd still need that cell to make the day productive. Still, it's an intriguing proposition for those of us in the journalism business...can we return to the Woodward and Bernstein days when reporters had little more than a rotary telephone, a notebook and a healthy dose of gumption?

Posted by: Patrick on February 26, 2007 6:41 PM

What about shutting down economic growth for a year and making a loss for once? Survival with the aim of cutting emissions in the society that comes out the other side. A day is nothing...

Posted by: Steve Tattum on February 27, 2007 7:51 AM

I also suggest "Take Off Your Glasses So You Can't Read a Thing Day" will have the same benefit. Perhaps it would be more effective since computers are used for many things. Turning off the computer in your automobile and your home thermostat too, add to that your watch, your cell phone, and your TiVo.

Posted by: Bob Calder on March 2, 2007 4:33 PM