By Sarah Currie-Halpern
When it comes to wasteful holidays, Valentine’s Day is not only the first of the year, but easily among the worst. Corporations produce an untold number of heart-shaped and love-themed candies, chocolates, and products every February to customers who seem eager to buy. Holiday spending in the U.S. is expected to hit $27.5 billion this year, roughly $1.6 billion more than we spent in 2023.
This presents a less than romantic prospect for the environment, since almost all of the staples of the holiday come at a real cost to the earth. All those flowers bought in the dead of winter have to come from somewhere warmer, which produces some 360,000 metric tons of carbon emissions according to the International Council on Clean Transportation. Glitter accoutrements make greeting cards un-
recyclable, and candy hearts come wrapped in plastic predestined for the landfill.
You can’t buy love, and you don’t have to buy a bunch of plastic, dump-filling gifts to have a romantic Valentine’s Day. Here are six ways to show some love while keeping things low-waste.
Swap a bouquet for a houseplant.
According to the British Florist Association, roughly 250 million stems of flowers are sold globally every Valentine’s Day, and the majority of those flowers are grown in Kenya and Colombia. Getting all those flowers to colder climates is a marvel of modern transit, and carbon-producing one. Forego flowers altogether and give your sweetheart a living and locally grown houseplant. The sentiment is the same, and a houseplant won’t wilt and die within a couple weeks. Surely that’s a more reassuring declaration of love.
If you can’t give up flowers, compost that bouquet.
If flowers are a must-have, go about it in a more sustainable way. Try buying from a local greenhouse. Once those flowers have drooped sadly in the vase, don’t toss them in the trash. Flowers are organic material and thus easily compostable. Stick it in the compost tub with the peelings and leftovers from your candlelit dinner.
Write a love letter.
Glitter, rhinestones, ribbons, and all the other accoutrements that make greeting cards beautiful are also what make them un-recyclable. Stick to stationery instead, and express your love through an old fashioned love letter. Not a poet? Take a page out of Sex and the City and lift some inspiration from the great love letters of history.
Skip the teddy bear.
No one ever knows what to do with the Valentine’s Day teddy bear once February 15 arrives, and the cute moment isn’t worth the waste. Most stuffed animals are made from synthetic fibers, which pollute water sources, produce microplastics, and take centuries to decompose. On top of that, nearly 80% of stuffed animals and similar toys end their life cycles in landfills, incinerators, or the ocean. In other words: avoid, avoid, avoid.
Gift experiences, not things.
What’s actually romantic? Quality time spent together. Movie tickets, a spa day, or a surprise dinner at a swanky restaurant are great places to start, but there are more options than ever for couple-friendly experiences. Photo shoots with a professional photographer, cooking classes, and walking tours are easy to plan and book through sites like Viator and Airbnb Experiences. For stressed moms and overworked dads, sometimes the most romantic gift is something that takes an item off their to-do list—think professional home cleanings or landscaping—and just lets you relax, together. What’s not to love?
Gift vintage, not new.
If gifts are a must, think beyond the teddy bears or a heart-shaped box that will have transitioned into being clutter in a matter of weeks. Buying secondhand and vintage need not be second-rate. There’s nothing better for a sports fan than a vintage jersey from their favorite team, which is now easier than ever to find online. Antique books will wow the bibliophiles; rescued old movie posters are perfect for the cinephiles. Start with whatever your sweetheart likes, and work backwards from there.
Comments