The best green gift is no gift at all. But that’s no fun. Think creatively this Valentine’s Day to have a positive impact on people, place, and planet – because that’s what a truly green gift should do. That means not buying something that doesn’t serve a useful or, at least, durable purpose.
Try these options to start thinking outside the box.
Have a positive impact by giving back. What better way to have an impact on the environment than to give back instead of giving a “material” gift. At WWF, the global conservation organization, plant a tree, send a turtle to rehab, give a polar bear a tattoo, buy some dung, and engine oil for the elephants all in the name of your beloved (yes, really).Give a lovely native flowering plant that they can enjoy inside for the rest of the winter, and plant in her garden in the spring – instead of roses. Depending on your climate zone, lavender, flowering rosemary, or spring bulbs are all excellent choices. Find a local nursery that carries native plants, then find a nice native plant and top it with a thoughtful recycled, 100% biodegradable card.
Buy them a share in an organic farm delivery from spring to fall. CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture, or Crop Share Agreement) can be subscribed to in the winter, and will deliver local fruits and vegetables from spring to fall. Check out localharvest.org to find a farm near you.
Soothe them with a day at an eco-friendly spa. Or give a spa-at-home with an organic cotton towel set, a bamboo or soybean spa robe and some tantalizing certified organic foaming bath care products from Druide (yum).
If they’re a foodie, give a membership to Slow Food USA, where they’ll receive a variety of publications every year targeted at cooking and eating local, sustainable foods and supporting a healthy global food economy.
Plan on their practical side, with a Global Warming Action Kit. What better way to say “I love you” than through saving the planet, one light bulb at a time. This Global Warming Action Kit, available from Gaiam, contains four 100W-equivalent CF light bulbs, water bottle, a low-flow showerhead, and a Solar Living Sourcebook. Gaiam proclaims that the small kit eliminates 5,000 lbs of CO2 per year.
If you’ve just gotta go for “stuff” including the traditional flowers, chocolates, and jewelry:
- Chocolate. This year, opt for organic, sustainable, free-trade chocolates like Dagoba or Equal Exchange
- Wine. Buy local, or organic wines. Top it off with a copy of the Organic Wine Journal for real wine aficionados
- Jewelry. Find something fabulous in recycled-material, antique, and sustainably-sourced material jewelry. And just don’t buy gold, or any other mined material, unless you know where it comes from and how its workers are treated. Mining sublimates indigenous people, puts them at undue risk of death and physical harm, and is just otherwise… well, bad. Read about it for yourself. Or perhaps a happy little (cheap) global warming bracelet with a tree planted for every bracelet purchased?
- Green lingerie. No, not green like Kermit, unless you’re into that sort of thing. Sustainable is the new sexy with lingerie made of renewable, organic materials
- Environmentally-friendly handbags. Made by EcoHandbags, these snappy satchels are made of a variety of recycled ingredients, including denim, candy wrappers, 35mm slide film, juice boxes… and the list goes on and on
- Any one of a variety of miscellaneous want-to-have items, like a recycled enviro-fiber hammock, or a bamboo office chair mat
- Something beautiful to think on, because the font of the well of sustainability is inner peace
