#ShowParksLove for I Love My Park Month
We may not be able to celebrate I Love My Park Day by working side-by-side to improve our treasured parks and public lands but we invite you to join us for a virtual I Love My Park Month.
Each week of May, we’ll be sharing fun and interesting ways to celebrate and care for our beloved outdoor spaces without venturing too far from home. Plus, there will be weekly prizes!
Join us throughout the month of May as we #ShowParksLove. Visit this webpage often, as well as our Facebook and Instagram pages, where you’ll find information on the week’s theme and challenges and how to win gift cards from outdoor retailers such as LL Bean and Patagonia.
Let's start celebrating I Love My Park Month!
#ShowParksLove Challenge- share and win prizes
Each week, share what you're doing to show parks love by posting on Facebook or Instagram or by sending us an email and tag yourself with #ShowParksLove for a chance to win a $50 gift card to an outdoor retailer such as L.L. Bean or Patagonia.
Get creative! Post videos, photos, artwork, collages, or poems related to that week's theme. Official participation guidelines can be found below. Winners will be announced by the following Wednesday.
Participation Guidelines and Rules for Challenges
Challenge Guidelines:
- Respond to each week's theme by tagging yourself in a post on Instagram or Facebook with #ShowParksLove for a chance to win a $50 gift card to LL Bean or Patagonia.
- Include #ShowParksLove and a hashtag identifying the theme of the week (#LeaveNoTrace #GiveBack #Share #Connect)
- All types of posts are eligible (and encouraged!)- video, photos, digital artwork, photos of illustration, collages, poems, etc.
- Each week you participate, you'll be entered to win a prize. Sorry, only one prize per participant.
- Post by midnight on Sunday to be entered into that week's drawing.
E-mail Guidelines:
- E-mail ilovemypark@ptny.org a photo, digital artwork, illustration, collage, poem, etc. that is related to the theme.
- Each week you participate, you'll be entered to win a prize. Sorry, only one prize per participant.
- E-mail must be sent by midnight on Sunday to be entered into that week's drawing.
May 4-10th: Leave No Trace
May 4-10: Leave No Trace
We all love our parks and trails but sometimes we can love them a little too much. With warming weather and increased usage, we need to be especially gentle with our public outdoor spaces and leave behind as small a footprint as possible. Show love for your parks, trails and public lands this week and #LeaveNoTrace.
Week One #ShowParksLove Challenge
What does Leave No Trace look like to you? Let us know by participating in the #LeaveNoTrace Challenge! Here are some ideas to get your creative juices flowing.
- Take a before and after photo of a wooded area in your neighborhood from which you removed garbage.
- Make a collage of trash you’ve picked up along a trail.
- Sketch a beautiful wildflower instead of picking it.
- Shoot a video of you riding your bike to get around town, rather than using your car.
- Get creative!
Besides taking our #LeaveNoTrace challenge, here are some other ways to #ShowParksLove and have a great impact by leaving a small footprint.
- Take time to calculate your carbon footprint and commit to taking at least one step to use less energy in your daily life.
- Consider becoming a citizen scientist.
- Check out the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics who established the 7 Leave No Trace principles and whose organization accomplishes its mission by providing innovative education, skills and research to help people care for the outdoors.
- Learn about the seven principles of Leave No Trace.
- Leave a smaller footprint and help flatten the curve by bird watching at home.
- Take care of your body and the Earth at the same time and try plogging
#LeaveNoTrace Contest Winner is J.Hartford!
This photo is from this year's annual cleanup along the east bank of the Hudson near Cold Spring. This year was Little Stony Point Citizens Association's 8th year in participating in the annual Riverkeeper Sweep, according to J. Hartford.
May 11-17th: Give Back
May 11-17: Give Back
Parks and trails provide us with so many benefits. Now, more than ever, we’re understanding just how important parks and trails are to our collective well-being. Getting outdoors and connecting with nature helps maintain our mental and physical health. Studies show that time outside in nature significantly reduces stress and anxiety, lowers blood pressure, improves mood, energy, and sleep, and boosts the immune system. Now it's our turn to thank and give back to our favorite green spaces.
Week Two #ShowParksLove Challenge
What does it mean to you to #GiveBack? Let us know by participating in the #GiveBack challenge! Here are some ideas to get your creative juices flowing:
- Share a recent photo of you volunteering at your local park, trail or public land
- Let us know if you join or are a member of a Friends organization or a local outdoors group by sending us a photo of the park, historic site, trail or other outdoor place the group stewards and tell us the name of the group.
- Take a screenshot of an online donation you made (of course leave out personal information)
- Share a photo of your favorite outdoor space and tell us in the caption how YOU give back to it
- Be creative!:
Looking for other ways to #GiveBack to parks?
- Become a member of or donate to Parks & Trails New York.
- Your opinion matters. Shape the future of trails by taking the New York State Greenways Plan Public Survey.
- Did you know there are 70+ Friends groups? Join one today.
- Advocate for full and permanent funding of the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Sign on and share the Great American Outdoors Act Support Letter.
- Attend an advocacy day in 2021.
- Join, donate, or volunteer with Knox Farm during their celebration of I Love My Park Month.
Winner of the #GiveBack Challenge is A.Austin!
A.Austin and family are this week's winners of the #GiveBack challenge. This family routinely gives back to Horseshoe Pond in Ossian, New York by bringing in bags and cleaning up on each and every visit.
May 18th-24th: Stay Connected
May 18-24th: Stay Connected
During this time, it is more important than ever to stay connected to, and informed about, the outdoor spaces we love. Unable to interact in person, sites and organizations are turning to the internet to connect with their parks and trails communities. Follow your favorite outdoor spaces on social media or check out their websites for activities and virtual adventures. For specific ways to stay connected, see resources below.
Resources
- Follow Parks & Trails New York on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
- Subscribe to Parks & Trails New York's e-communications.
- Subscribe to e-updates from OPRHP and DEC.
- Follow your local Friends group on social media.
- Try your hand at nature journaling
- Join the Wild Center for an interactive Lunchtime Live!
- Do a fun nature activity (inside or outside) with the whole family
- Join Minna Anthony Common Nature Center-Friends for an activity in their Outdoor Classroom.
- Join National Geographic in the Explorer Classroom every weekday at 2PM!
- Relax and watch Spring unfold at the New York Botanical Gardens from home.
- Take a fun online class through the New York Botanical Gardens.
- Take a virtual history tour featuring NY’s Suffrage leaders hosted by NYS Parks.
- Stay up to date on all the fascinating things going on in the world of New York State Parks through the New York State Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation’s blog.
- Read up on Parks & Trails New York’s accomplishments over the past decade in our 2019 Annual Report
- Help shape the future of NYS Greenways by sharing your opinions at www.GreenwaysPlan.org.
- Take the #
Week Three #ShowParksLove Challenge
How do you #StayConnected? Here are some ideas to get your creative juices flowing.
- Thank your favorite local park staff or Friends group and tag them in a photo on social media.
- Share a virtual tour, activity, or classroom offered by any park or Friends group.
- Post a PTNY e-news story that you enjoyed.
- Tag 5 friends on any PTNY social media post
- Get creative!
Post on Facebook or Instagram with the hashtags #ShowsParksLove and #StayConnected or by sending us an email by noon on Sunday. When you do, you’ll be entered to win a $50 gift card to L.L. Bean!
May 25th-31st: Share
May 25th-31st: Share
We've spent the last month celebrating outdoor spaces and we want to hear why YOU love them. This final week of I Love My Park Month, we challenge you to #Share what you love about your favorite outdoor spaces. Why are parks, trails, and public lands important to you? Everyone has their own reason. Sharing these stories helps us to see how important these resources are for the communities that use them and makes us more inclined to help preserve them for generations to come. Will you share your story?
Other ways to share love for your parks and trails
- Share a post by your favorite park, trail, or historic site on social media- help spread the love for your favorite outdoor spaces!
- Take the #ParksPledge and share why you believe it is important to help keep parks and trails open and safe for everyone.
- Share your favorite outdoor virtual content from this month with your friends and family- invite them to follow along too!
- Tune into a poetry reading by Juan Felipe Herrera hosted by the Walt Whitman Birthplace Association.
- Share a photo of you wearing your favorite I Love My Park Day shirt from past years and tag @parkstrailsny on Instagram or @parksandtrailsny on Facebook.
- Attend a photo exhibit tour virtually hosted by the Calvert Vaux Preservation Alliance.
Final #ShowParksLove Challenge
Remember to enter by Sunday, May 31st at midnight to be entered into the drawing to win a $50 gift card from patagonia
This final week of I Love My Park Month, we challenge you to #Share what you love about parks, trails, and public lands. Why are they important to you?
- Post a photo of your favorite park, trail, or public land on Facebook, Instagram, or send us an e-mail at ilovemypark@ptny.org and explain why these outdoor spaces are important to YOU
- Use the hashtags #ShowParksLove and #Share so we can find your post