Earth Day is April 22nd!

It’s spring, the weather is wonderful, and people are anxious to be outside. Take advantage of that spirit and host some events that are also friendly to the earth!

Our top suggestions:

Host a clean-up hike to beautify those natural spaces around your community. Have the group meet at a specific location (a local trail or green space) and give each person a trash bag or a bucket to carry, as well as a pair of gloves, and see how much trash they can collect. Maybe make it a contest and the person who collects the most trash will receive an environmentally-friendly prize (might we suggest a gift from our New Leaf Collection). Not only will your residents get to share a bond of interacting with fellow community mates, but local trails will benefit from less trash! This is an easy and fun way to get out into the community and also build camaraderie among your residents!

Enlist your landscape crew to let the children on the property have a hand in planting the flowering spring beds. Poll residents who are parents about their interest level. Have the landscapers set aside x-number of flowering plants for each participating kid. On the designated day, the masked crew can show the children, properly distanced and of course in the open air, how to plant them. You’ll pay to have your flowering beds replanted this spring anyway, so the only extra cost will be in persuading the landscapers to schedule a Saturday when families can participate.

Make a donation to Earth Day activities at the schools the children who live in your community attend. Schools traditionally have been a major player in Earth Day events, but they often struggle to create the budget to carry out their programs. A well-placed financial gift will make your youngest residents – and their parents – happy and proud of their community.

Hire a shredding van to park on the property for several hours and allow residents to bring in their accumulated shredding. A file drawer of old tax papers defies the capability of those home office shredders. Having free, mass shredding on-site will inspire residents to purge piles of paper and free up more storage in their homes. Professional shredders or document destruction experts are accustomed to taking their show on the road – they set up operations on a routine schedule at hospitals and medical offices. 

So, what does shredding have to do with Earth Day? Well, if you choose your document destruction company well, you’ll get one that commits to recycling all that shredded paper. A useful service for residents and piles of paper off your property and bound for recycling? A winning combination!

And speaking of gifts, well, if you want to reward participation in those first two projects, we have just a few suggestions: a small gift such as a reusable water bottle (we love the modern color options of this one!) or a fun and economical snack gift for every participant. For more options, our entire New Leaf Collection was chosen to be environmentally friendly, with minimal, reusable or recyclable packaging.