Earth Day 2025

The first Earth Day, held in 1970 in the USA, achieved rare political alignment from Republicans and Democrats, urban and rural dwellers, wealthy and poor, who came together against ​“oil spills, polluting factories and power plants, raw sewage, toxic dumps, pesticides, freeways, the loss of wilderness and the extinction of wildlife.” 

Since it’s creation, Earth Day has contributed to: 

• The creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency 
• The passage of first of their kind laws – acts protecting the environment, wildlife, and people
• Worldwide recycling efforts
• Adoption of clean energy
• Signing of the Paris Agreement (signed on Earth Day, 22 April 2016)
• The ​“largest online mass mobilisation in history” – Earth Day’s 50^th Anniversary, 2020, over 1 billion participants worldwide 

The impacts of Earth Day have been achieved through the mobilisation of individuals and communities in the form of rallies, marches and protests, political action (petitions, letters to leaders and government), campaigns, and public speaking. However, with the climate continuing to warm over 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels, we still need to do more.

This year, Earth Day’s theme is ​“Our Power, Our Planet” and the focus is on energy, where it comes from, and how we use it. It highlights the need to shift to renewable energy sources and reduce our global energy consumption to meet climate targets. It encourages individuals and businesses to take action through these steps: 

• Educate
• Advocate
• Mobilise 

This could include writing to your local MP (Hubbub have created this letter template to help), planning or attending a local event, or making an environmental pledge (see ​‘How to make a quality pledge under the European Climate Pact’).

At Artswork, we are reducing our energy demand by: 

• Adopting a second-hand first approach to procurement
• Limiting AI usage and cloud storage
• Prioritising active and public transport
• Continuing to keep our ​‘No Fly’ pledge