Part 2: How to Green Your Valentine’s Day

Even though Valentine’s Day screams RED: red roses, red foil chocolates, red sweaters, red hearts, and RED ink in your checking account, GO GREEN and SAVE GREEN this year! Turn your Valentine’s Day GREEN with some of these tips from LIVE Earth: Save a Little Love for the Planet on Valentine’s Day (photo by LA Green Girl). Art Predator’s additional tips and commentary are in bold and italics; PART TWO OF TWO PARTS! Find 1-5 here.

6. Buy lingerie made of hemp or organic cotton.

Or go without!! Surprise your love with a super cheap thrill!

7. Wrap gifts in red fabric or recycled wrapping paper.

My friend Elzbet and VCCOOL Board Member makes wonderful gift bags and folders from old nature calendars (I admit I can’t help but peek to see what she does each month!): she sews up the sides using a simple stitch on her machine or you could use a hole punch and yarn.

Save the colored comics form the newspaper OR use crayons to color on newsprint–big red hearts would be super fun! Fleece fabric scarfs (made from recycled plastic bottles!) are also easy to make and could be used to wrap a present.

8. Don’t buy a vase of flowers. Buy instead a locally grown potted plant of red roses. Not only is this more environmentally friendly, but they also last longer. You can also go a step further and plant the roses in the ground for your loved one.

While red roses may be traditional, there are SOOOO many other ways to go that show off your creativity–and your green-itivity!

I admit I have a weakness for fresh flowers in the house, especially “smell goods” as my grandma Gwenn would say, so I grow my own and I buy at the farmers market which last longer and they’re grown locally. When I’m in the area, I can even buy them from McGrath’s organic farmstand off the 101 FWY in Camarillo; some of these are grown in association with the crop vegetables to attract beneficial insects or distract non-beneficial ones.

For Valentine’s this year, I bought red tulips, blue and yellow iris, and added pussy willows which I’ve had for months in another arrangement, plus a stalk of rebloomer yellow bearded iris from my garden–iris which my grandfather originally grew for my grandma Gwenn! You can buy tulips in a pot, and after they’re done blooming, plant them for next year; or think ahead and buy bulbs here for next year..

Buying and planting a live flowering plant or shrub is another option. Last year for Valentines, we bought two ceanothus (also known as mountain lilac) which are local to our region and provide wildlife habitat. Plus as you might guess, they smell heavenly–even better than lilac!–and the flowers are lovely tiny sprays of lavender, blue or periwinkle which bloom around Valentine’s Day.

Consider buying an orchid. The blooms last a long time, especially if the plant is kept away from drying heaters, and if you water and feed them regularly, they will give you pleasure for years to come.

9. Gifts that are not materialistic: name a star after your loved one, buy a piece of the rain forest, make a donation in their name, etc.

I’m not sure how you can manage this next suggestion of mine, but every year around Valentine’s Day, house finches nest in a heart shaped wreath on our front door! You could also go here for plans to build your own birdhouse a a Valentine’s present or project; this is the source for the photo by Larry Jordan of the male house finch, nestling finches and nest.

10. Get really romantic, put on an organic apron and make a home cooked organic meal.

Make a special day of it–a special day of togetherness! My friend Kathy says she and her sweetie look in cookbooks together to find something new and unusual to make, then go shopping together at the Farmers Market to find the ingredients. You might wear something special and fun while cooking and dress up for dinner–maybe change into a silk nightgown and hemp or cotton pajamas? After dinner exchange foot massages using organic oils like sesame or coconut, or a local one.

BONUS suggestion: Clean up the house as a surprise–vaccuum the carpet so you can relax there: even if you don’t have a fireplace, you could have a picnic or play a game (and have some fun!) Clean the bathtub–and have some salts and oils to enjoy together! I think you get my drift!

Please share YOUR ideas in the comments section on ways to go green, stay green and save some green this Valentine’s Day!