CLEAN UP YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD

Earth Day is all about cleaning up our planet. But it's not something we should do on just one day - we should do it every day of the year! Since it's impossible to clean up the entire planet by yourself, start small by helping to tidy up your local neighborhood. Just follow these easy tips from Myjellybean.com.

Get Garbage Gone

Picking up trash is a yucky job, but someone has to do it. If it's not getting done in your area, why not organize a clean-up team? Get a few friends together, and ask a parent or teacher to join you for safety. Put on some heavy-duty plastic glove to protect you from germs, and wear old clothes that you don't mind getting messy. Then hit the streets and start cleaning up litter. Don't just stick to the curbs either - walk through parks, car lots and other areas to pick up any waste that's cluttering up the environment.

Once you've cleaned up an area, you can put up a homemade flyer (done on recycled paper, please) saying, "This area has been cleaned by The Teen Green Team" (or whatever other name you have for yourself - you can use your real first names, or make up another team label). You might also want to put up posters asking people not to litter, or saying where the closest public garbage/recycling can is.

Help Your Neighbours Recycle

If your area doesn't have a city-organized recycling program, you can help your neighbours to recycle. Get a few friends together and go door-to-door, collecting recyclable items such as bottles, cans, junk mail flyers and newspapers. If this isn't a safe thing to do where you live, start a recyclable materials drive at your school, and pass the word to parents - through students - that all materials are welcome at the school. Then contact your city's public work departments, and ask if they can pick up the bags of recyclables (or where you can deliver them) for recycling. Alert the local media to what you're doing, and you could start a great movement - and maybe end up on TV too!

No Junk Mail Please

Those colorful flyers that come to your home advertising the latest and greatest from stores, are a huge waste of paper - and trees. Ask your parents if you can tape up a sign on your mailbox that says "No Junk Mail Please". Encourage friends and neighbours to do the same.

Mow The Lawn

Mowing the lawn isn't glamorous, but a freshly-cut lawn does brighten up the block. Cut your grass, pull out weeds, plant flowers and trees, and make your garden a shining example to others. What about people in the neighborhood who aren't able to care for their lawns, such as the elderly, or the just-plain-busy? Volunteer to do yardwork by trimming hedges, plucking weeds and pushing a lawnmower. You could even start a yardwork business, to make some cash while you improve the area.

Earth Day - Flowers and Plants and Trees, Oh My!

If there's a vacant lot in your neighborhood that's doing nothing but collecting dust and other junk, then wouldn't it be great to start a community garden there? A community garden is a space where people work together to grow fruit, veggies and flowers. If a community garden is out of the question, then try gardening on a smaller scale - plant flowers, shrubs and trees in your neighbors' gardens and along sidewalks. Plants are important cuz they fight pollution by absorbing carbon dioxide from the air, as well as make your neighborhood a prettier place!