Earth Hour was first organised by WWF and is a global grassroots movement uniting people to take action on environmental issues and protect the planet. The first event famously started as a lights out event in Sydney, Australia in 2007, and this was typically how Earth Hour was mostly celebrated – turning off all lights in your home, turning off all electronic devices, and taking an hour to reconnect and reflect on your own personal relationship with the environment. This year, Earth Hour will take place on 22 March 2025 at 8.30pm (it will be 8.30pm regardless of where you are in the world, so 8.30pm in your local time).
This year however, efforts are being stepped up to help people spend an hour doing something good for nature and the environment and this can be done in any way that you want to:
Hold a fundraising event to raise money for environmental charities and organisations
Maybe you’re very crafty and want to make little crafts that you can sell at a local market to raise money for your chosen charity. Or maybe you already have a little side hustle on the go and you run a special sale where all proceeds during a certain hour of a day will be donated to an environmental charity.
Or maybe you want to do a sponsored event: How many squats can I do in 1 hour? Can I do a 10km in 1 hour? How far can I swim in 1 hour?
Spend an hour educating yourself on one particular topic regarding climate change or how to protect the environment
This is a huge area, and there are so many avenues where a person can help. This therefore makes it overwhelming to even know where to begin your research or to even know which issue resonates with you on a personal level. Whilst a lot of the issues all feed into one another and overlap in the impact each issue has, finding one area that really inspires you to take action should be your starting point. The Earth Day website has a great introduction page that can help kickstart your learning.
Spend time in nature
You can do this solo or with someone else, but spend an hour exploring your local areas of nature. Take part in a nature walk in your local area and get to know the different plants and animals that are native to your area who also call the area home.
Even in your own garden, spend an hour sitting in your garden and noting down every bird, insect, and plant that you spot. Ask your neighbours to also get involved and then see what you can all do to help promote more nature coming into your gardens. Perhaps you all agree to plant flowers the promote pollinators, or you all agree to install bee hotels in your gardens.
Make a commitment in your diet
Arguably one of the easiest things you can do for nature is changing your diet. Maybe for a week, you commit to eating a fully vegan diet. Or even just for one meal everyday for a month (or whatever time frame you choose) you cook a whole foods plant based meal and share it with your loved ones.
These are obviously just a few ideas, and the Earth Hour website has loads of other suggestions, ranging from wide reaching community projects, to small changes you can make in your daily life to promote sustainability for our plant. For me, I think I will spend this evening playing card games with my husband by candlelight, enjoying the simple quiet of it all. I then want to spend an hour each day (I am thinking on my lunch break) reading up on how to promote and support biodiversity within gardens. I do not have a garden at the moment, but I am set to move house soon where I will have a tiny garden so I am going to make a start now so I know what plants I need once we have finally moved in!
Taylor Talks Vegan 