Eco-Conscious Valentine’s Day Gifts
Every year there’s a buzz of excitement that surrounds valentine’s day regardless of your relationship status- married, dating, partnered, single. It doesn’t matter what group you fall in because one thing for certain is that you feel different on that day. You see red everywhere, it’s on your TV, in your apps, your favourite foods now have a “love theme” to it in your favourite restaurant.
Valentine’s day is one of significance for everyone because you freely express not only love but appreciation and people choose many ways to celebrate it but one thing that is common is the giving of gifts to the person you love.
Because it is such a big holiday and almost everyone celebrates it’s hard to escape the traditions that come with valentine’s day especially the culture of giving gifts.
We’re taking a break from paperless forms to suggest some affordable, eco-friendly valentine’s day gifts for that special someone:
Put a spin on flowers:
Flowers are great but one thing we think is important is the sustainability of the environment. You could go a step further and get her- or him a flowering plant, they’re just as beautiful, sentimental, they make your environment look lovely and plants have a purifying effect on the air around it. And the best part is that it lasts longer than the day itself, so -you always have a piece of the beautiful day of love to keep with you long afterwards.
Go green with your chocolate:
Some people may argue that it is hard to find ethical chocolate brands that are affordable but it’s not. One brand that we particularly like is seed and bean:
“Seed and Bean was started in 2005 by Stephen Rudkin with the intention of being an ethical brand, that uses organic and small scale suppliers. It's the only chocolate company out of 27 to be awarded 100/100 by the Ethical Company Index (ECI). Paying above market price for their cacao, the company only uses FLO certified chocolate (the certification for Fairtrade Standards) and none is mixed with conventional chocolate – that’s not Fairtrade – meaning farmers benefit from the Fairtrade premium from 100 per cent of the bar.
It’s made in small batches of 45 litres instead of 10,000 litres that large brands use. Of the list of 23 bars, our favourite is the Cornish sea salt and lime that gives a citric tang to the classic flavour.The packaging was recently changed to be 100 per cent compostable, including the inner foil which is made from eucalyptus tree pulp.” From the independent
As you can see, this brand takes not only your health into account by producing extremely high quality chocolate but also the environment which is why we give it 10/10 in chocolate recommendations!
The gift of an experience:
Sometimes the best presents are the experiences you give someone- maybe your partner has always wanted to try sushi for the first time ever, or they’ve been mentioning how they need a spa weekend, or just want to go see a broadway show. These things don’t have to break the bank, and they can be great gifts to give to anyone. Groupon has many deals you can go through, from dining, to massages to getaways as low as £30/night.
Gift cards:
The act of gift giving is beautiful in and within itself because it is really about the thought and sentiment behind it that counts- yet sometimes they can be a bit hit and miss depending on how well you know the person. Giving a gift card is a great way of showing that you care about the person enough to have an idea of what they want but you’d like them to make their own decision. Amazon gift cards, Netflix, store gift cards are great options. To make the gift a bit more personal and special you could include a heartfelt note with the card.
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