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This Norwegian Island Wants to Be the World’s First Time-Free Zone

Norway News
by Eben Diskin Jun 19, 2019

If you loathe the whole concept of Daylight Saving Time, you’ll be in agreement with the good people of this Norwegian Island.

For Sommarøy, an island north of the Arctic Circle in west Tromso, there might soon be no hours in the day at all. The island’s residents are campaigning to completely abolish the concept of time, mainly because time works quite differently on Sommarøy. Since it’s so far north, the sun doesn’t rise there in winter or set in summer, and enacting a “time-free” policy would reflect the inhabitants’ unusual schedules much better and give everyone the possibility to use the endless daylight however they wish.

Kjell Ove Hveding, a Sommarøy inhabitant who spearheaded the Time-Free Zone campaign, told Norwegian radio station NRK, “When you come here, you should be able to throw away your watch and live your life.”

After Hveding presented local MP Kent Gudmunden with a petition on June 13, the Time-Free Zone campaign has gained a lot of public attention. The petition called for a serious discussion of the potential ramifications and benefits of implementing the time-free policy, including putting this remote part of the world on the map for a tourism boost.

“Our goal is to provide full flexibility, 24/7,” said Hveding. “If you want to cut the lawn at 4 AM, then you do it.”

H/T: Insider

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