February is here and you’re probably thinking about Valentine’s Day. Before you order flowers or chocolates, now is the perfect time to consider the environmental impact of your gift choices. If you want to show you care in a greener way, woo your loved ones with these environmentally-conscious Valentine's Day gifts.
Buy a flowering plant instead of cut flowers
Cut flowers are undeniably beautiful, but also rather wasteful. First off, imported flowers often fly thousands of miles to get to your local florist. They also involve a lot of water to grow. Their carbon footprint is not so great as they require refrigeration, are often grown in heated greenhouses and necessitate excessive transportation. If your loved one loves flowers, consider gifting them a flowering plant instead. It’ll be just as beautiful and with care could last for years in your home and/or garden.
Buy eco-friendly chocolate
Most chocolate isn’t so sweet from an environmental perspective. Its production requires a ton of water, contributes significantly to the deforestation of the world’s rainforests, and chocolate products generally have to travel great distances to get to you, the consumer. Before you buy a convenience store box of chocolates for your sweetheart, consider making a more eco-friendly purchase. Dark chocolate from craft cocoa makers can be a much more environmentally-friendly purchase. It’s also better for your health! We love environmentally-conscious brands like Alter Eco. They even make truffles!
Dig into something plant based
If your plan is to treat your sweetheart to a fabulous meal on Valentine’s Day, consider making it yourself and making that meal plant based. Animal agriculture contributes massively to climate change, natural resource consumption, deforestation, species extinction, and Co2 emissions. Do your part to take the burden off our environment by cooking more plant based meals at home. Not sure where to start? Check out this collection of vegan Valentine’s Day recipes for inspiration.
Not much of a cook? Opt to order in a fabulous plant based meal from a local restaurant instead and pick it up on foot if you can to avoid polluting the planet. If the restaurant uses environmentally damaging packaging, request to pickup the meal with your own reusable containers if possible.
We hope you give these environmentally-conscious Valentine's Day gifts a shot!
Looking for a place to call home? For information on BentallGreenOak rental properties across Canada, please visit our website.