Celebrate Earth Day 2022: 8 Fun Ways to Show Your Love for the Planet

Happy Earth Day, everyone! Today is a special day to celebrate our planet and everything that she provides for us. There are so many ways to show your love for the earth, and we have compiled 8 of our favorites below. From planting trees to reducing your carbon footprint, there is something for everyone to do on this important day. Let's work together to make Earth Day 2022 the best one yet!

Plant a tree

Celebrate Earth Day by planting a tree! Trees are one of the earth's most important resources. They provide us with oxygen, shade, and homes for wildlife. planting a tree is a great way to show your love for the planet.

Recycle

One of the best ways to reduce your impact on the earth is to recycle. You can recycle items like paper, plastic, and metal.

Reduce your carbon footprint

There are many ways to reduce your carbon footprint. You can carpool, take public transportation, or ride your bike instead of driving to reduce pollution. You can also save energy by turning off lights when you leave a room and unplugging appliances when they're not in use. Help create a sustainable future by doing your part and reducing your carbon footprint.

Volunteer

Volunteering is a great way to give back to the earth. You can help clean up a local park, plant trees, or work with an environmental organization.

Educate yourself and others

Learning about the earth and its many wonders is a great way to show your love for the planet. You can also teach others about ways they can help protect the earth and increase awareness.

Buy eco-friendly products

When you're shopping for new products, look for items that are made from recycled materials or that are eco-friendly.

Compost

Composting is a great way to reduce food waste and help the planet. You can compost kitchen scraps and yard waste to create nutrient-rich soil for your plants. Check out Loomi! This is a way to turn your food and some plastic leftovers into compost!

Celebrate nature

One of the best ways to show your love for the earth is to simply appreciate all of the natural beauty around you. Spend time outside, go for a hike, and take in all that mother nature has to offer.

Which of these Earth Day activities will you be doing? Let us know in the comments below! And don't forget to share this post with your friends to spread the love. Together, we can make a difference!

How You Can Take Part In Keeping Our Oceans Clean. World Oceans Day 2019

Today is World Oceans Day. Why not celebrate by educating yourself on how you can make a difference in the world? Every effort helps. You can start by making a simple transition to eliminate single-use plastics in your daily routine. Think of how many plastic straws you’ve used in your lifetime. How many pieces of plastic silverware have you used? These are things we take for granted, myself included. We have evolved into a world of speed and simplicity. Hence all the single-use items we now have in our lives today.

Mass production of plastics began in the 1950’s, and not until recently was there any survey or tally as to what those numbers look like. The scientists involved were horrified by the numbers they found. Click here to read an article from National Geographic titled, “Planet or Plastics? A whopping 91% of Plastics isn’t recycled”. There are plenty of people who still don’t recycle, and for those of us who do, we assume we are doing the good thing and everything we throw into those bins is being recycled. No harm, no foul right? From what I’ve been reading, a large majority of those recyclable items are NOT in fact being recycled. A massive quantity is ending up in landfills and the ocean.

I could go on and on regarding this topic, but I’ll spare you. What I can suggest are a few items to try. The first being a stainless steel straw. If you follow Frugal Fashionista then you have probably heard about the Mermaid Straws. They are amazing! I have replaced my single-use straws with ONE Mermaid Straw. How simple is that? If you’re interested in giving one a try click here. They make a wonderful gift as well. I chose to partner with Mermaid Straws because a portion of the proceeds goes towards funding an ocean clean-up project every month. So not only are you eliminating a single use item from your life, but you’re helping to fund an ocean clean-up at the same time.

Today I ordered these reusable sandwich bags. I can’t wait to give them a try. I’m not sure about you, but I go thru disposable sandwich baggies very frequently. If these work well, this will be a simple but HUGE change for the amount of waste our household produces. I’ll update you guys on their arrival and provide you with a review.

I close in challenging you to own up and take part in saving our oceans. Sit for just a few minutes and brainstorm on how you can eliminate single-use plastics in your life.

Lewis Mountain Cabins - Shenandoah National Park & Skyline Drive

Recently my husband Max, our lovely dog Lincoln, and myself visited Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. This was our first visit, and I’m hoping not our last. A few years ago we were traveling to Myrtle Beach, and saw signage for Skyline Drive which sparked our interest. It continued to linger in our minds, and after some research we finally booked a trip. If you’ve never heard of Shenandoah National Park or Skyline Drive, I hope to shed some light on both. Shenandoah National Park is located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. It’s hard to imagine when you’re there as it seems so remote, but it’s just west of Washington, D.C. The Park stretches 105 miles from its northern entrance at Front Royal to its southern entrance near Waynesboro.

We decided to stay at Lewis Mountain Cabins, as they have pet-friendly options available, that way Lincoln could enjoy the trip as well. Booking was a breeze, as the representative was very nice and courteous.  You can book online here or by calling 877-847-1919. Since this was our first visit, I called to make our reservation. Within minutes of booking, I received an email confirmation outlining everything we would need for our trip.

Finally our departure day came. I have to admit I was so badly looking forward to a few days of relaxation. I didn’t really care what we did while we were there. My only requirements were to be schedule free, and not connected to an electronic device at all times.  I do suggest to plan your driving route beforehand as there are four entrance stations to Shenandoah National Park, but only one has a physical address. We entered via the Swift Run Gap entrance in Elkton, Virginia. In order to enter there is a fee. We chose the $30/per vehicle fee which gives you access to the park for 7 days. Skyline Drive is the main road that runs the span of Shenandoah's 105 miles. I highly suggest covering the entire route from the southernmost entrance to the northern most.  We were pleasantly surprised with the number of amenities available just off Skyline Drive, and by “off” I mean for the most part, simply pulling into a parking lot.  Directly off of or near Skyline Drive, are multiple campgrounds and lodging options, as well as gift shops, areas to purchase food or even sit down to eat, as well as a majority of the hiking trails.

The first thing I noticed as we entered, is the beautifully lush surroundings. Vibrant shades of green everywhere.  I can only imagine what this area looks like in the fall.  This continued to go thru my mind throughout our entire stay. It’s gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous.  It was a short drive to our lodging, which was nice after a four hour drive. The signage along the way made it very easy to discover where you are along the way. We arrived at Lewis Mountain Cabins and checked in at the office. Again we were happily surprised that there was a store which carried the essentials and much more.  The pricing in the store is great too!  There were two women who were working at the office/store.  I apologize greatly for not remembering their names, but they were great.  Very accommodating and pleasant with every interaction.  Check-in was simple.  Our cabin (Cabin #8) was located just across the street from the office, we were able to pull up to the cabin to unload our items and then park in the parking lot a short distance away.  Below is a short video of the interior of our cabin upon arrival.

 After arriving, the rest of our first day was spent exploring the Lewis Mountain Cabins area which included the cabins, campsites, trails and picnic area.  Each person we interacted with were happy and polite.  By evening we relaxed by the fire pit and watched an eerie fog roll in until it was time to head off to bed.

Day two was great.  We woke up to a bright sunshiny day.  While the hubby made breakfast, Lincoln and I walked to explore a little more.  It was neat to see the different posts marking the position on the Appalachian Trail, and to see the hikers coming and going.  Personally it made me want to be in much better shape than I am presently and partake in activities like hiking.  Not just simple evening walks around my neighborhood, but true hiking.  I can only imagine the sense of accomplishment I would feel after hiking a great distance, getting to experience nature and take in the views.

After breakfast, we packed up and headed south on Skyline Drive, stopping at each overlook on the southbound side of the road until we reached the southernmost end of the drive.  We then turned and headed back towards our lodging, stopping at each overlook on the northbound side of the road on our way back.  The views are spectacular.  There’s something simplistic yet amazing about going at your own pace, stopping to take as much time as you’d like to enjoy beautiful surroundings. Once we got back to the cabin we were ready for lunch and more relaxation.  Unlike the evening before, the wind was less aggressive which allowed for a nice fire and cooking dinner over the fire pit.  We lounged around for the evening, taking walks here and there.  We were visited by some deer walking thru the woods just behind the cabin.  It was a great end to a great day.

Our final day came and again we were fortunate to wake up to perfect weather again.  After breakfast we packed up all our belongings and checked out.  Again the process was as simple as could be.  The staff again were great.  We headed home northbound on Skyline Drive.  Just like the day prior, we took our time and stopped at every single overlook.  We even pulled into the other camp grounds and some of the picnic areas to see what they were like.  I love that there is so much do to.  I give props to everyone that had a hand in planning the layout of this park.  There are  plenty of restrooms, picnic areas etc spaced all along the park so that you aren’t going any great distances without a place to stop.  Also if you are into biking there were TONS of cyclists, so this is probably a wonderful place to ride.  I was impressed at the number of people pedaling along. 

I suppose I have rambled on long enough about our stay, but I wanted to give a true review and share our experiences so you can decide if this place is for you.  In short we loved it! You should go visit too. For your own research purposes lots of information can be obtained here.  If you have any questions feel free to email me and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.