National Parks Week and Earth Day!

This week is not only National Park Week but Friday is Earth Day.  All this week and weekend are great times to take advantage of the great outdoors.  

You can find fun Earth Day Events in your area with a quick online search, or try to make it to your local national park.

Here are some other fun ideas to help you celebrate our Mother Earth and all she has to offer:

Adding some flowers in your
veggie garden helps feed your local bees.

1. Channel Your Inner Green Thumb: Plant your home / indoor gardens this weekend.  If you live in a place where you will no longer have frost, consider planting your summer veggie garden.  In addition to veggies add some flowers in the beds or pots to add a pop of beautiful color and to help attract and feed bees.

2.  Support Our National Parks: If you can’t get outdoors this week/weekend consider making a donation to the National Park Service in honor of their 100th birthday!  The NPS currently has two major campaigns going on to support the Yosemite Conservancy and the Grand Teton National Park foundation. Go to their website to learn more about how you can give back to our National Parks:

https://www.nps.gov/getinvolved/donate.htm. Throughout National Park Week (April 16–24) every national park will have free admission.

Use those old pine cones!

3.  Get Crafty: Consider doing some fun craft projects with your kiddos! For the little ones why not try making homemade bird feeders out of pine cones, peanut butter and bird seed. This is a fun easy project and can help attract beautiful birds to your yard. Check out these steps from My Kids Adventure Blog:  http://www.mykidsadventures.com/pinecone-bird-feeder/

For older kids try making custom stepping stones out of recycled glass and tile to place in your yard! Here is a how-to from Instructables:  http://www.instructables.com/id/Recycle-ceramics-into-awesome-Mosaic-stepping-ston/

Associate producer, Melissa, found
this big gulp cup at her local park.

4. Do a Little Clean Up:  If you are able to visit one of our beautiful national parks or a local park this week - consider bringing a trash bag to pick up trash that's been left behind.  If we all did our part to help remove trash, our world would be a much more beautiful place. Can’t make it out to a park(s)? You can also do this in your local neighborhood. Just take a walk within a mile of your own home and pick up any trash you might see.  

Into the park trash can.

No matter what you choose to do this week - get out and enjoy the scenery in your area and give Mother Nature the thanks and support she needs to stay beautiful.  

Be the change you want to see in the world.