Portable Gardens

Did you know that people are naturally healthier and happier when they are surrounded by plants? This especially applies in urban places that don’t normally have a lot of greenery. Consider building portable planters for your community and then planting them with hearty species that will thrive with minimal maintenance. Your planters can be placed in a parking spot or moved between locations. As a bonus, planters can serve as pollinators for bees and birds, making the environment even healthier!

How do I get started? Download our Done in A Day PDF for more information and trips on how to launch this type of project.

How do I expand this narrative arc? If you’re interested in environment and community activism, think about also doing one one of the following:

• Launch a White Roof Project in which community buildings with dark roofs are repainted with white elastomeric paint that reflects rather than absorbs heat.

• If you live in a dry climate, launch a Xeri-scaping awareness campaign to promote the use of drought-resistant plants in landscaping.

• If you live in an urban area (or one that has issues environmental contamination), Save the Earth with Sunflowers (which draw heavy metals from the soil).

• Promote energy conservation through Ecolympics.

HOT TIP: Your portable garden is a really cool project on its own, but you’ll get more mileage if it links into your narrative arc. Are you interested in politics and community engagement? Or science and sustainability? Make sure that there’s a connection between this valuable extracurricular and other themes and activities on your resume.