Earth day always brings out the crunchy mama side to my personality. I love sustainable living and make a serious effort to make earth healthy choices every day. But modern life and crazy schedules can get in the way of my crunchy expectations. Earth Day is the perfect opportunity to reevaluate our daily impact on the environment as well as to explore our city’s natural spaces and connect with our community.
We live in such a beautiful city. It is so easy to access nature. This earth day let’s get out and enjoy the abundance around us while being good stewards of our environment! Feeling overwhelmed by all the possibilities and wondering where to start? What if I told you I could make planning your Earth Day as fun and easy as a B-I-N-G-O game.
Here is how you play. Simply download our free Earth Day Bingo printable to get moving in the right direction.
Click the image to download!
Here are some of my favorite squares in action.
Read a book about the earth. My favorite book to read on Earth Day is without a doubt The Earth Book by Todd Par. The book walks you through all the little things you can do to make a big difference with regard to our planet. It is adorably illustrated and playful in its demonstration of simple daily behaviors that can help sustain our earth. It also includes a wonderful poster that summarizes the action items beautifully. A bonus feature of this book is that it not only talks about “going green,” it is green, made of recycled materials and printed using non-toxic plant-based ink.
Have fun with fresh food, especially if you grew it yourself. Earth day is the perfect excuse to stick to a local menu of non-processed foods. You can have a ridiculous amount of fun arranging fresh, local food into environmental scenes. In this platter, I used carrots, a cherry tomato, spinach (that we grew), celery, hummus, and raisins to make a naturally inspired plate. If you are pressed for time, you can certainly grab pre-made hummus at the store; but if you have never made your own hummus, I urge you to give it try. It’s a great dish to make with the kids. All you need is a food processor or blender and a few ingredients. I used 4 cloves of garlic, 2 cups of canned chickpeas, 1 teaspoon of Kosher salt, 1/3 cup of Tahini paste, 2 lemons, and water. Simply peel and drop the garlic cloves into the food processor until minced. Next, add the drained chickpeas, tahini paste, and salt. Finally, squeeze the juice from 2 lemons into your food processor or blender and blend until you reach your desired consistency. Beginning to end, we are talking about 15 minutes to delicious, better than store-bought, hummus.
Visit our river, a river inlet, lake, or waterway. It can be easy to forget as we drive quickly over and past our waterways managing our day to day tasks that we are truly connected to the habitat of our waterways. Even if we don’t have a water view from our windows, we all live on waterfront property. The choices that we make to keep our landscapes Florida-friendly, drought tolerant and litter-free make a direct impact on the health of our environment. Nothing can help refocus our commitment to keeping our waterways healthy than heading out and reveling in their beauty. Why not pack a picnic? Be sure to check out our hiking guide for great local hiking spots with picnic tables available.
Remember, there are many shades of green, and they are all beautiful. Whether you complete one, five or all twenty-four activities, we hope you will join us for some Earth Day BINGO fun. Download your Earth Day Bingo Card here and be sure to share your pictures of all the fun you find along the way.
