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In an attempt to tackle climate change through traditional wisdom, the World Silent Day campaign saw activists and environmentally friendly communities on the resort island of Bali switching off for a few hours on Sunday.

Gusti Ayu Fransiska Kusuma Dewi, a coordinator from the Bali Collaboration on Climate Change, said on Sunday that the thousands who participated in World Silent Day refrained from driving their vehicles and switched off electronic devices from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday.

“Even though it was only for four hours, at least we tried to give the earth an opportunity to be free of emissions,” she said.

Fransiska conceded that while participants did well not to use their cars or motorbikes on Sunday, some were unable to keep their cellphones switched off. She also said that the public was still largely unaware of the campaign.

In the lead-up to World Silent Day, activists worked together to clean up plastic junk polluting the Tukad Badung River. People also gathered for a bicycle rally at Puputan Badung Square in downtown Denpasar.

Fransiska said she was proud of the 9,000 signatures collected during the campaign as a show of public support for the movement, even though she said that figure was still not nearly enough.

“We need at least 10 million signatures before it can be brought to the United Nations,” she said, “but I’m optimistic that we can get that.”

Local Bali residents made up the majority of people who signed the World Silent Day petition, but a large number of foreign tourists, from as far abroad as Japan, Germany and Pakistan, also participated in the day’s activities.

Hira Jamthani, an adviser to the Bali Collaboration on Climate Change, called on the government to support the movement and officially designate March 21 as World Silent Day across the country. Even though it was only for a short period of time, she said the World Silent Day activities had a real impact on preventing global warming.

“This is better than the government’s target to reduce emissions, because in reality nothing has been done yet,” she said.

Putu Suardika, a spokesman for the Bali provincial administration, said that the local government was ready to get behind the movement in the future. “We are ready to give our signatures if they still need it,” he added.