Many traditional Valentine’s Day gifts create needless waste and use unsustainable practices. Just picture all the heart-shaped candy boxes that end up in landfills within days of February 14. Valentine’s Day is not exactly a love fest for Mother Earth. Does that mean you can’t give chocolate to your Valentine? Not at all! A plethora of green V-Day options for gifts, foods, and activities will let you celebrate in style.
Look for flowers grown in a local nursery, instead of flown in from far away. If you do decide to purchase non-local flowers for your Valentine, go green by making sure they’re fair trade and organic. Otherwise, the workers growing your roses, and the environment, might be exposed to dangerous pesticides and other unethical working conditions. When buying chocolate for your Valentine, make sure it’s also fair trade and organic.
Choose products with labels such as Fair Trade Certified and USDA Organic to ensure you give your Valentine fair trade and organic products, respectively. The Veriflora certification ensures cut flowers are grown with reduced levels of chemicals, requiring farmers to adopt progressively more organic practices. The label also ensures producers don’t use child labor or forced labor, as Paul McRandle describes in OnEarth. Rainforest Alliance certification also ensures ethical treatment of workers, minimal use of chemicals, and protection of local environments, showing that products are fair trade and eco-friendly.
Likewise, go green by sending your Valentine an e-card, or a card made from recycled, post-consumer-waste paper. Post-consumer waste has already been used by consumers, as opposed to pre-consumer waste, which is just a byproduct that hasn’t even left the factory.
Avoid giving your Valentine a present wrapped in lots of packaging, too. Go green by going package-free, or visit an eco-friendly store to find your Valentine a gift made with recycled packaging. Look for fair trade products to ensure the present you give your Valentine helps to provide a fair living wage to its creators, along with safe, fair working conditions. If possible, give your Valentine a present made by a local creator and sold in a local shop, using—you guessed it—recycled materials.
Enjoy an eco-friendly dinner with your Valentine by eating local food grown by small producers instead of big commercial farms. This means eating seasonally, choosing veggies and fruits that happen to be available at your local farmer’s market or local grocer. Sticking with seasonal produce might sound boring, but it actually encourages you and your Valentine to savor the distinct flavors of every season instead of taking them for granted. If you’re dining out with your Valentine, go green by heading to an organic, locally based restaurant rather than a chain.
Staying close to home with your Valentine will lower your carbon footprint, too. If you’re in the city, walk to a nearby theater or play. If you live in the country, take a moonlit stroll and gaze at the stars with your Valentine. Wherever you live, nothing beats having a romantic dinner with your Valentine in front of the fire. Spend time just being together, without distractions like email, phone, and television. After all, gazing into each other’s eyes, snuggling, and rekindling your romance are all completely green activities.
You may be noticing a theme by now—that greener choices are often the simpler ones. Going green on Valentine’s Day certainly doesn’t need to cost more money or require more effort. Plus, you’ll probably impress your Valentine with your thoughtful choices!