5 ways to celebrate Earth Day

Hope you're all having a joyful Earth Week! I couldn't be more excited for this weekend for two important reasons- 1. my birthday and 2. Earth Day

I was not born to hippy parents. In fact, I haven't a clue where my tree hugging tendencies derive from. I seemed to just innately love the earth and want to protect it. I attribute this to being born the day before Earth Day. Spring is my favorite season and I think April is the perfect month to be born in. To celebrate these two important events, the plan was to go camping up in North Carolina for the weekend. However, the weather gods do not seem to be on my side and there are severe thunderstorm warnings all weekend, so camping is going to be postponed until next weekend.

Here are some realistic ways that you can show Mother Nature some lovin' for this year's Earth Day.

1. Visit your local farmers market

Produce tastes so much better when it's fresh, local, and in season anyways. Give back to both the environment and your local community by ditching the grocery store for the week and shopping local instead. Round up a group of friends, check out the free samples, and take the time to catch up on life. Most farmers markets also sell locally made art, gifts, and trinkets.

2. Cook a great meal

Now that you've got all this fresh produce, get your friends together and cook an awesome meal together. Here are some great recipes that use produce that's currently in season.

Side: Spring Egg Salad

Main Dish: Sauteed Chard and Gruyere Grilled Cheese

Dessert: Apple, Cherry, and Blueberry Crisp

3. A repurposing project

A great way to use old glass containers is to remove the label and repurpose them as holders for makeup brushes/ pens/ lip gloss/ whatever your heart desires. I filled up an old glass jar, filled it up with colored sand and stones, and now use it to hold my makeup brushes. It's a unique, pretty way to display my makeup brushes.

4. Go camping

Nothing makes you appreciate the environment more than basking outdoors in its greatness. Round up some friends and camping gear and head out for a weekend of camping. Just made sure you clean up after yourselves while you're on the trails!

5. Travel lightly

Ditch your car for a day and bike, walk, or take public transportation wherever you need to go. My campus employer Outdoor Recreation hosted an event this week called "Travel Lightly" to reward students that biked, walked, took a shuttle, or carpooled to campus that day. We had a bike parade and held a raffle, and made the front page of the newspaper the next day. It's a really simple concept that can make such a profound impact on the environment.

What else will you be doing this weekend to celebrate Earth Day?