Spending quality time with your friends and family doesn’t have to mean extravagant vacations or compromising your environmental beliefs

There are plenty of things you can do with your loved ones this spring break that will help—not hurt—the environment. Whether you’re looking to volunteer or learn something new, there’s a sustainable March break activity waiting for you.

1. Volunteer at a local farm together

Spring tends to be the busiest time for local farms, so why not lend a helping hand? It’s a great way to spend time outside, be physically active and learn how to grow your own food. Volunteering for a week during break will also connect you to a community and create a potential opportunity for the summer months ahead.

2. Invite friends to a trash pick-up party

There are always parks, ditches and beaches that to be tidied up, and March break is a great time to commit to cleaning up your community. Invite some friends and family members and tackle an area a day, then celebrate by having a pizza party or going out for a treat and calculate how much waste you collected—and how much it helped the planet.

3. Start planning a garden

March is a great time to start planning your garden—you can even start planting some veggies depending on your growing zone and area. Spending the break planning and planting a garden will definitely keep you busy for the week, but it will also feel so rewarding once you see your veggies popping up by April.kid in gardenPhoto by Filip Urban on Unsplash

4. Go on a foraging or identifying hike

Whether you take a local hike or drive somewhere new, there’s always something to discover in the woods (especially in the early spring). Buds are forming, bugs are waking up, and there’s plenty to identify and learn in the forest. Going on a foraging or identifying hike is educational, and it can give us a greater appreciation for Mother Nature and all that she has to offer. Once you start finding treasures, you’ll never want to stop.

5. Make recycled/repurposed art

Time spent indoors is inevitably going to be part of March break, especially in the evenings and on those gloomy days—but that doesn’t have to mean those days have to be dull. Grab some materials from around the house, or you can ethically forage for some during your hike and make a sustainable craft together. Expressing yourself through art is always a good time, but the added challenge of only using repurposed materials makes the fun extra creative.

6. Learn a skill together

Sewing, baking, building, wilderness skills and gardening are all examples of some handy skills you and your family can try learning together this March break. Learning can bring you closer together while also helping you be more self-sufficient and less reliant on purchasing new items. Not to mention, it’s fun to learn a new activity together and be able to utilize those skills for life.

7. Plant an ecosystem together

Planting trees is an amazing thing to do for the environment, but only if there’s the right ecosystem to help them thrive. Reach out to your local representatives and see if you can help plant some native shrubs, flowers and plants alongside trees in your local parks and gardens. You could also reach out to empty lot owners and see if you can start a community garden or butterfly garden. It’s a great way to establish food for pollinators and other animals and insects that help keep our planet vibrant and thriving.

Having a sustainable spring break is all about being creative, reaching out to the right people and finding a community of likeminded friends. If you start some traditions this month, who knows? You may just continue with them through the summer months or even in years ahead.