Looking for an easy way to put the “green” into Valentine’s Day?
It can be fun, and fairly simple, if you think outside the box… of chocolates.
Don’t buy a card, write about your feelings for your true love on recycled paper. If you’re not confident in your own words, check out a book of love poems from the library and read them out loud to your loved one.
Prefer to sing about your love? Play or sing a love song.
Instead of driving to some expensive restaurant, bundle up and take a romantic walk around your block on Valentine’s Day. Dawdle, hold hands, spend the time reminiscing or planning ahead.
Come home to a candlelit meal. Jodi Helmer, author of The Green Year, a book with eco-friendly ideas for every day of the year, says that turning out the lights saves energy.
Instead of cozying up in front of a roaring fire, which is a waste of resources, pull up this crackling fire video on your computer.
If you need to shower your love with flowers, Helmer suggests ordering organic roses.
Go through old photo albums together. If the relationship is fairly new, go through childhood photo albums.
Do something enjoyable, and good for the community or environment together. Volunteer to help out at your local animal shelter as a couple. Pick up trash in your local park. Volunteer at any organization that’s near and dear to your heart.
If you would feel more comfortable buying a present, look to Green America’s Valentine’s Day Gift Guide. This features special offers from businesses that are eco-friendly.
And if your plan for the holiday involves jewelry, Helmer suggests buying a piece of estate jewelry. She calls it, ”the ultimate in reducing, reusing and recycling.”
How are you planning to put the green into your Valentine’s Day?
These are all great ideas. On the card front, millions of Valentine’s cards are still bought for kids to “send” to each other in schools. If parents would talk to their kids’ teachers and ask that no purchased cards be brought in, but instead, that the Valentine’s activity is MAKING cards for each other from recycled paper and other items the kids bring in, that could have a huge impact. To simplify it, children could pick one name from a box to make a card for and everyone could make one for the teacher. Great lesson!
Lynn, that is a wonderful idea! I completely forgot about all of the valentines that kids give and receive. Thanks!
In this digital age, digital art is proving more popular. This year Valentines caricatures are hot – used as screen savers, even printed when they want to…but the digital ones are totally green
One other idea for people who feel they must by a gift is to use http://www.greenanysite.com/.
Read more below for how it works.
Green Your Online Shopping with Just a Click
With Green Any Site, you can easily donate a portion of any online purchase to the environment. It’s free, there’s nothing to install, and it takes just a click each time you buy something.
Here’s how it works: Web retailers (think Amazon, Buy.com) pay other sites a percentage of each purchase for referrals. When you use GAS, all of that money goes to supporting green causes, instead of ending up in somebody else’s pocket.
Not just for Valentine’s Day, but anytime you purchase something online.