FEBRUARY 10, 2013 BY
Candy, sugar, cut flowers, consumerism, paper… any way you look at it, Valentine’s Day isn’t very green. But it doesn’t have to be like that. Here are some of our ideas and insights on this Hallmark Holiday.
Live plants vs. poisoned flowers
- Roses are typically shipped from South America where they are heavily doused with chemicals. The effect of these chemicals on the land, water, workers, wildlife, and now you, are astronomical. So it’s time to trade them in for something better. When you buy a live plant, make sure you know where it’s grown, namely as locally as it can be. Herb plants brighten up the olfactory senses and bloom, too, like lavender.
- But if your sweetie is set on that annual bouquet, insist on local and organic.
- Or give seeds for summer – red tomatoes, peppers, or something else you will love to harvest together. Combine it with a seed starter, and get a jump on the short season in Steamboat. Call it your Valentine’s Garden.
- And best of all – buy trees! If you didn’t use this great idea for Christmas, cash it in for Valentine’s Day.
- Spend a day out in nature together,
Go for long lasting memories, crafty ideas, reduce-reuse-recycle, and Fair Trade.
- Instead of buying into the consumer game, share your wealth with local artists and go pick out artwork at a gallery together. You will always look at that piece on the wall as your 2013 Valentine’s Day piece. Or better yet, start a Valentine’s Day wall in your home.
- Get crafty and make something for your sweetie this year. Buy crafts. Or craft together. Any way you look at crafting, it’s a memory.
- Products made from renewable resources are good; non-renewable, meaning only finite amounts of the product are available, are bad.
- Avoid petro-chemicals (made from petroleum). Oil is a finite resource and when burned, it emits CO2. So lower your carbon footprint (your use and emissions of CO2) and avoid buying plastic, synthetic products, chemicals and synthetic candles made oil.
- Buy natural, non-toxic, abundant, recycled, sustainable and biodegradable products if you do buy.
- If you can’t avoid buying chocolate, buy Fair Trade. Fair Trade is a system of exchange that honors producers, communities, consumers, and the environment. It is a model for the global economy rooted in people-to-people connections, justice, and sustainability. Also, you can help the anti-GMO cause by telling Hershey and Mars there’s nothing sweet about GMOs!
And if you still need some good ideas, check out these resources:
Huffington Post’s Green Valentine’s suggestions
Treehugger’s 10-great-green-gifts-for-valentines-day
Planet green’s Green Valentine’s tags
