Coachella 2025: How the festival’s sustainability efforts inspire Earth Day activism

It’s been nearly five decades since Earth Day was established, influencing generations of environmental activism that raise issues of sustainability worldwide, and some of that energy is prevalent at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio.

Earth Day, created by former Wisconsin senator Gaylord Nelson and first recognized on April 22, 1970, was intended to bring attention to environmental issues. The first Earth Day inspired 20 million demonstrators nationwide, whose activism led to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency and legislative victories such as the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act.

Over the years, environmental education has been a cornerstone of related activism meant to inspire change through individual and collective efforts. The Los Angeles non-profit Global Inheritance has partnered with the Coachella festival since 2004, sharing a mission of raising environmental awareness. The group, led by Eric Ritz, executive director and founder, helps “meet people where they are” to reduce environmental footprints at the massive event throughout both weekends each year, with different activities designed to be engaging at the festival.

The programming includes a food challenge, where contestants do a blindfolded taste test to try to distinguish the difference between plant-based food and meat. If they guess correctly, they could win VIP tickets for next year’s festival and other prizes. One of the most popular programs is the recurring Carpoolchella contest, where four or more festivalgoers carpool to reduce the amount of CO2 emissions and decorate their car for a chance to earn VIP tickets for life, festival merchandise and more.

The organization will also once again host several guest speakers, such as Nic Adler, co-founder of Monty’s Good Burger and vice president of Golden Voice Festivals, and stand-up comedian Ed Greer. Other panel topics include AI’s impact on music and creativity, how a meatless diet can help reduce our footprint, and how to find a job in the sustainability field.

During weekend one, the first Gen Z member of congress, Florida Rep. Maxwell Frost returned to the festival to speak on a panel about how people can get directly involved with grassroots activism. He also introduced Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders who spoke before Clario took the stage last week and called for young people to help fight back against the rollback of environmental regulations, and other issues.

“Young people who are going to be here longer than us will be the ones responding and dealing with these kind of environmental issues, so I think hearing those words from people that they that they hold in high regard, especially in a place you normally would not hear something like that can have a high impact.”

According to Bloomberg, the Trump administration is weighing a series of executive orders, possibly to be announced on Tuesday, to coincide with Earth Day, that are meant to target environmental groups. One order is reportedly meant to target the tax-exempt status of environmental nonprofits in a similar way the administration has gone after tax-exempt status for Ivy League institutions such as Harvard University.

Denae Ávila-Dickson, a spokesperson for the Sunrise Movement, a youth-led activism group that advocates for environmental issues and affordable housing policy, said in a phone interview that since President Donald Trump’s inauguration, the group has seen an increase in youth organizers.

“President Donald Trump is rolling back critical environmental protections,” Ávila-Dickson said. “He’s defunding the agencies that keep our water drinkable and our air breathable, the agencies that are able to identify and address climate disasters. People are concerned for their homes, communities, and the people they love.”

Madison Betz, of Phoenix, said she’s been consciously using her reusable water bottle after learning how many end up in landfills. This is her third time attending Coachella, and she said she appreciates the festival’s effort to reduce that waste and offer water refill stations.

“There’s so much plastic everywhere, and sometimes it’s plastic over plastic, like in stuff that gets delivered, and that all has to go somewhere,” she said. “You can’t help but wonder how much of that will just flow into our oceans or communities in the future, and that will affect us. We should be working to fix that, rethinking these things every day.”

Ritz, who champions activism meant to inspire that year-round change, hopes Earth Day allows others to pause and brainstorm ways to live more sustainable lives.

“For companies, groups, and individuals that aren’t necessarily doing environmental programming or thinking about sustainability, Earth Day is a nice reminder that people should pause and consider the planet,” said Ritz in a phone interview. “Ideally, it’s a time of reflection, where you ask yourself, ‘What are you doing for the planet? Have you made improvements in your life to help reduce your footprint or help lower emissions?”