Photo by iloveblue
It’s already February – didn’t January just fly by! February is the love month, Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, and everyone is trying to figure out how to make their loved ones feel loved, or feeling just a little bit guilty if they don’t get caught up in the craze of Valentine’s Day.
We are not a big celebrators of Valentine’s Day, except for the fact that it marks the day hubs and I started dating (isn’t that cheesy?!). I think it’s over commercialized (but what holiday isn’t anymore?), and puts pressure on people to buy gifts that they don’t really need, to express their love for one another.
But Valentine’s Day is less than two weeks away, so if you choose to participate in some way, big or small, I want to encourage you to think about ways that you can green your Valentine’s day celebrations.
Green Your Valentine’s Day
Skip the Valentine’s Day Cards.
Valentine’s Day is the second largest holiday for giving and receiving cards, behind Christmas of course, over a billion Valentine’s cards are sent every year – that’s a lot of trees. So, skip the Valentine’s cards, and consider sending an e-card if you’d like to spread the love to friends and family.
Valentine’s Cards That Give Back.
If you have to give Valentine’s Day cards – as in your kids have to hand them out at school – check out these super cute cards at Sorta Crunchy for project Give:LOVE to benefit Love146, an organization that raises awareness and resources to combat child sex trafficking.
Give Gifts that Give Back.
Don’t just give a gift that shows your loved one you care, but also shows you care about improving people’s lives and protecting the planet by purchasing fair-trade gifts, like flowers or chocolate, or gifts from organizations that give back to people and communities around the world, like jewelry from The Starfish Project, or check out this post for lots of great ideas for gifts that give back (just ignore that it’s about Christmas gifts – most of them can be given for Valentine’s Day too!)
Give An Experience Gift.
Gifts of experiences like a massage, tickets to an event, or something similar, are waste, and clutter, free. Maybe you could start a tradition of going to a sporting event or visiting a museum with your loved one – you won’t just be giving a great gift, you’ll also be making fun memories!
Give a Live Plant instead of Cut Flowers.
If you like the idea of giving flowers for Valentine’s Day, consider giving a live flowering plant. A living plant is a much better use of your money because it will last for much longer than cut flowers, and also gives the gift of health through improving indoor air-quality by absorbing carbon dioxide and other toxins.
Give a Homemade Gift.
Homemade gifts are thoughtful and often inexpensive. This is definitely not my area of expertise, the most creative I get with homemade gifts is giving “coupon books” with things like a foot massage, or a night off from doing the dishes, or… well you fill in the blank. While those kinds of coupons are usually greatly appreciated, they’re really not all that cute, so if you’re more crafty than me, there are all kinds of homemade Valentine’s gift ideas you can find on the web. Or, if you want to go the homemade/handmade route, but don’t want to do it yourself, Etsy will surely cover for you.
Valentine’s Day can be a day to show someone how much you love and care about them, but it doesn’t have to be done at the expense of other people or the planet. Show the world that you care this Valentine’s Day by being a conscious consumer and giving gifts that spread the love to more than just your loved ones.
How do you feel about Valentine’s Day? What do you do to green your Valentine’s celebration?
I am not sure if it is a “greener” Valentine’s gift, but a few years back we started a Valentine’s dinner. It’s just us and the kids, but we get out the good dishes, light some candles, grill some steak and even have a real dessert to go along with it. I’ve even got the boys to dress a little nicer for it! They now look forward to their special steak dinner on V’day!
That is such a cute idea Rita! It makes me want to start a Valentine’s tradition like that. I bet your boys (and girlie too of course, but that’s a given) look so cute dressed up for dinner. 🙂
My son gives out Valentines at school, at church the Sunday nearest to Valentine’s Day, and by mail to relatives…but he makes them out of junk paper! In the past we’ve used unwanted documents that are blank on one side, but now we have a huge stack of that perforated paper for an old computer printer, which was surplus when my office got rid of the printer. I used to cut out the hearts for him; this year, he’s doing it himself. He decorates them with markers.
For the ones that are mailed, we use stamped envelopes that were sent to me by charities when I wasn’t going to donate. Just cover the printed address with blank white labels. There are a lot of those intended for the old printers available in surplus, too! I bought 1,000 of them for a few dollars from American Science & Surplus more than a decade ago, and I still have hundreds left.
The only trouble with your suggestion of giving a live plant is that not everyone has enough sunny windows to take in another plant, so that’s something to consider before choosing that gift. Another option is a Happy Flower, which is not an especially eco-friendly manufactured item but lasts for years and needs no light or water…and they are just so cheerful!!