Just look at that, another year of wanton waste and excess and suddenly Earth Day is here again to make us feel guilty about throwing that milk bottle away.

While the eco-activism side of things makes me wretch slightly, I love to get outdoors and do the landscaping and the planting. It’s more because it’s nice to make things look cool instead of leaving them dry and barren.

Since I’m inside most of the day and it’s getting ready to rain, I’ll probably just think about planting something nice or go out and pull a weed. I’m also obsessively thinking of raised bed designs to cover our completely empty back yard. I’m not sure which material I’ll use, but I’m laying it out in SolidWorks first. Getting the layout has been one of the funnest parts because I’m able to update the design so quickly.

So, instead of shedding a tear about all the oxygen your cakehole is depleting, check out these raised bed garden designs. What would you use to make one? You can go crazy with the design, but, generally, they’re pretty quick projects to create in SolidWorks. You can also order your own raised-bed kits if you’ve spent too many earth years trying to create one. Here’s some inspiration and design details.