The Environmental Impact of Valentine’s Day – Show Our Planet Some Love…

Roses are red, Violets are blue, ditch waste this Valentine’s Day, our planet needs you…

If you’ve left thinking about your partner’s Valentine’s Day gift to the last minute, there’s good news and a get out of jail card with your name on it waiting.

Every year in the UK we send more than 25 million Valentine’s Day cards and spend an incredible £650 million on gifts ranging from flowers to fragrances.

It’s time to change that, not just for the sake of our planet but because it’s a ridiculous and purely commercial event when you think about it. Valentine’s Day is naff. There, we said it.

We (Mr and Mrs PFH) have been together for more than a decade and we haven’t swapped Valentine’s Day gifts since the year we met (and even that was an experience… bungee jumping in case you’re curious!). And we’re still surviving, despite the absence of teddy bears, chocolates and forecourt flowers. So that’s option one, skip the whole thing entirely and show that you’re in touch by being environmentally conscious.

Here are a few other ways you could mark Valentine’s Day a little differently this year…

Cards
If you are happy to live without them, job done. If you’re not, consider hand making a card. Not feeling crafty? The aim is to buy a card that’s printed on recycled or FSC (sustainable) paper, free of glitter and attachments and not wrapped in plastic. Even better if it’s from an independent retailer. The likes of 1treecards.com are also a nice option. Every card sold comes with a packet of wildflowers and sees a tree planted. Cards actually made from plantable seed paper are also a great option; we really like hannahmarchant.co.uk.

Flowers
At this time of year, Roses and other popular flowers are typically flown in from the southern hemisphere. They’re then delivered to your door in a refrigerated van. And, unless you’re very lucky, this time next week they’ll be on their last legs having gone through several pints of water. Consider if you can live without flowers this Valentine’s Day, or why not opt for a long lasting house plant (ideally grown in the UK) or something for the garden instead.

Chocolates
The cacao used to make chocolate will typically have come from South America or Africa and may not be Fairtrade or sustainably and ethically produced. The majority of chocolates will also contain Palm Oil and of course they are often heavily packaged. Decide if you can skip the chocolates this year, or at least hold tight until Easter. If you can’t, consider eco-conscious options like Divine Chocolate, Tony’s Chocolonely, Beyond Good and Traidcraft.

Fragrances
Most scents are a concoction of dozens of synthetic chemicals, many of which are derived from Petroleum. Worldwide, over 4,000 different chemicals are used to produce fragrances and many of these are bad news for our bodies (some can be toxic), not to mention the planet. There’s nothing romantic about any of that. If you’re still on the lookout, aim to find a fragrance that’s made ethically and sustainably from 100% natural ingredients.

Gift an experience *
Don’t splash out on generic or novelty Valentine’s Day gifts. Instead, plan a day out or a short UK break (revisit somewhere special or explore somewhere you’ve always wanted to go), go out for lunch, afternoon tea or dinner, see a show or head to the cinema, do something sporty, book a surprise experience (the possibilities are endless these days), offer to do something nice for your other half like cooking a meal or chores around the house, have some photos professionally taken, get creative and write a poem or song, paint or make something. You get the idea!

Whatever you do, don’t forget who and what really matter this Valentine’s Day. And remember to show our planet a little love if you can.

* Of course, patience may be needed here. Please keep in mind any Government’s latest guidance.

You can find us on Facebook by searching for Plastic Free Home or at http://www.facebook.com/plasticfreehomeuk.