Earth Day 2025: 7 Ways Your Community Can Go Green

people gardening in their HOA for Earth Day

Celebrated annually on April 22nd, Earth Day is a great way for communities to take steps toward becoming more sustainable and decreasing their environmental impact. At Associa, we started a special program, Associa Green, to help promote practical solutions that have a positive impact on the people and places we serve. However, you can celebrate Earth Day in so many simple ways and still make a big impact.

To learn more about Earth Day 2025 and find ideas for going green, read on!

Frequently Asked Questions About Earth Day 2025

What is Earth Day and why is it important?

Earth Day is an annual worldwide celebration, promoting environmental awareness, conservation, and sustainability.

When is Earth Day 2025?

Earth Day 2025 is Tuesday, April 22, 2025. Earth Day is celebrated on April 22nd every year.

What is the theme of Earth Day 2025?

The official theme for Earth Day 2025 is "Our Power, Our Planet", emphasizing renewable energy and efforts to increase clean electricity generation by 2030.

How can I get Involved in Earth Day activities?

Visit earthday.org for different ways to take action or plan efforts of your own, like recycling, gardening, or conserving water.

7 Ways Your Community Can Go Green

Earth Day 2025 can be celebrated in so many different ways. Consider the following suggestions to help your community make an impact for this year's efforts and all the Earth Days ahead:

1. Upgrade to LED Lighting

Upgrading to LED bulbs, both inside and out will provide substantial benefits for your association. Today’s LED bulbs are more energy efficient and use around 75% less power compared to traditional fluorescent and incandescent lights.

Modern LED lights will decrease the impact on the environment and reduce costs to your monthly electric bill. LED bulbs will also last up to six times longer than conventional bulbs, freeing up time and money for your maintenance team. For even more significant long-term savings, think about switching to solar-powered LED bulbs outdoors.

2. Hold a Recycling Event

For many people, Earth Day activities coincide with their annual spring cleaning efforts, making it the perfect time to educate residents and provide additional resources to reduce, reuse, and recycle. Talk with your homeowners to get a feel for what they want to do, then create a recycling event that helps meet their goals.

Here are some recycling tips your community can follow:

Establish community drop-off centers for old computers, TVs, and other hard-to-recycle electronics.
Clean up parks and other common areas and then go on a trip to the local recycling center to drop off collected bottles, glass, plastic, and papers.
Collect old toys, clothes, books, furniture, and other household items to donate to a local charitable organization.

3. Go Paperless

Between meetings, homeowner notices, bills, and other documents, a homeowner’s association can go through a lot of paper each year. Do your part this Earth Day and try to go paperless and cut down on waste. There are many electronic options out there to help decrease your paper consumption while giving your residents more options for interacting with the board. Digital community apps like TownSq help send paperless, electronic notices and even allow members to pay dues and view documents online and from their phones.

4. Rethink Your Landscaping

Homeowners will judge a board's environmental awareness mainly on their landscaping. Whether your association is over-watering, pushing out local wildlife, or using outdated equipment that spews toxic fumes, people take notice. There are better ways to maintain your property while lessening your environmental impact. If you have not done so in a while, take a step back and ask your board if there are greener ways to approach your landscaping needs.

The Belmont Community Association in Ashburn, VA did just that when they had a problem with invasive weeds threatening trees in their community. Instead of firing up the weed eaters or dousing them with harmful chemicals, they looked for greener solutions. Their research led them to an unconventional solution as they enlisted the services of goats to graze on their property. The goats happily ate up the weeds and delighted the residents who love to see the goats hard at work.

5. Plant Trees

Planting trees is an excellent way to get your community involved in protecting the planet, carbon footprint reduction, and even increasing your property value. If you are planning on planting inside the community for the event, do your homework. Make sure the tree type and placement will be appropriate and add the best value to the community.

Tree planting efforts can also focus on individual homes, which provides shade and cuts back on cooling bills in the summer. Either way, planting trees can give your residents an opportunity to roll up their sleeves and work together outside.

Electric vehicle charging port with pump inside of car.

6. Install Electric Vehicle Charging Stations

If you are part of a condo board or community with shared parking spaces, then you may already be getting requests from owners to install charging stations for their electric vehicles. As electric cars increase in popularity, demand for these shared charging stations will no doubt increase too.

Investing in charging stations for your community now will go a long way to keep your homeowners happy and could help attract new environmentally-conscious residents in the future, especially if you use a power source based around renewable energy, like solar power.

7. Plant a Community Garden

Whether it is located inside your association or close by in the surrounding area, planting a community garden is a great way to take climate change action while also providing an outlet for prospective gardeners. These collective gardens help reduce negative environmental impacts and promote sustainability.

For participants, it provides an excellent way to get some physical activity while connecting with nature—helping decrease stress. For the community, these gardens help increase access to fresh foods and are a great way to clean up and beautify abandoned lots.