Earth Hour

Saturday
March 22, 2025
8:30 PM – 9:30 PM Local time

The first Earth Hour took place on March 31, 2007, in Sydney, Australia, when more than 2.2 million individuals and 2,000 businesses switched off their lights for one hour. The effort was meant to draw attention to the lack of meaningful action on climate change. Today, Earth Hour is one of the world’s largest environmental movements, with more than 190 countries now participating. Sponsored by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), it takes place every year on a Saturday evening in late March.

It is an opportunity for businesses, government, and individuals alike to acknowledge our climate crisis, which we know to be caused chiefly by the amount of energy we use.

Look for world landmarks to turn off their lighting, including the Sydney Opera House, the Colosseum, the Eiffel Tower, Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, St. Peter's Basilica, the Empire State Building, and the Space Needle.

How to take part in Earth Hour? Only turn off non-essential or unneeded lighting; this means do not make your personal surroundings unsafe or areas used by the public unsafe.

But Earth Hour can be much more than that. In fact, WWF asks participants to do an additional activity for 60 minutes that helps nature or the planet in some way. Make sure your actions are things you love to do! Here are some very simple ideas from WWF’s website:

Switching off your lights is just a start.

More information

  1. 10 most interesting facts about earth hour | wwf. (n.d.). Retrieved February 17, 2025, from https://www.wwf.org.uk/earth-hour/10-facts-about-earth-hour

  2. Will County Green—Earth hour 2025 save energy & reduce light pollution. (n.d.). Retrieved February 17, 2025, from https://www.willcountygreen.com/earth_hour_2025_save_energy__reduce_light_pollution/

  3. Frodsham, I. (2024, March 23). Landmarks across the world switch off lights to mark Earth Hour. The I Paper. https://inews.co.uk/news/environment/landmarks-switch-off-earth-hour-2024-2972347

  4. FAQs | earth hour. (n.d.). Retrieved February 17, 2025, from https://www.earthhour.org/faqs

  5. Give an hour for earth | earth hour. (n.d.). Retrieved February 17, 2025, from https://www.earthhour.org/take-part/give-an-hour