You celebrate a traditional Valentine’s Day – flowers, candy, a romantic dinner – but this Valentine’s Day, you are dating an environmentalist.  If you are, you know what I’m talking about.  You look at every item before you throw it out to see whether you can reuse, recycle or, compost it.  You check sockets to see if the appliance HAS to be plugged in.  You purchase RECs or Carbon Offsets.  Everything in the refrigerator is fresh and local.  Reusable bags are the only bag option.

If you are struggling with ideas to show your environmental loved one you care, let me help. 

First, take everything you know about Valentine’s Day traditions and throw them out the window (the window which has the compost pile underneath it).  Cut flowers often travel great distances, making their carbon footprint enormous.  Candy manufacturing uses a lot of electricity, packaging, and gasoline for transport, which means commercial candy production has a huge carbon footprint. 

Romantic dinner you say?  Consider the footprint of the meal you are about to enjoy together – did the out of season vegetables come from Central America, the fish from Japan, or the beef from Argentina? 

Love be saved!  There’s hope! You can do all of these things locally, and together. 

Pick flowers in a field together, if weather permits.  If not, purchase some native seeds or bulbs for planting in the spring.  This way, you can remember your love later in the year as well.  If the love is gone later in the year, it might be cathartic to pick them or give them away after they bloom.

Making candy together is fun, easy and inexpensive. Try chocolate covered pretzels, nuts, peppermint or lettuce (Just kidding! But it might be good…). You can buy local chocolate and foods to dip in the chocolate.  The chocolatier skills you learn here will go a long way.

If you MUST purchase something, consider a gift that lasts a lifetime as well.  As for dinner, some restaurants have locally grown and sustainable items on their menus .  Can’t get a reservation?  Cook at home!  You can purchase local and organic foods at many grocery stores these days.  If you’re really adventurous, you could pick your own fruits and vegetables and, perhaps, hunt for your protein, outdoors or in a store.

As an environmentalist, my perfect Valentine’s Day would be sitting together with my partner, in a field, enjoying the day together with conversation, knowing that my loved one unplugged all the electronics in the house, including the refrigerator and the television.   That’s love.