Valentines Day! Whether you spend it watching Sex and The City with your cat Snowball or you're on a hot date eating overpriced food on a prefixed menu, Valentines day can be an environmental plunder for our beautiful earth. Did you know that the billions of cards purchased each year end up in landfills contributing to deforestation ?Or what about that giant bouquet of roses doused in pesticides and picked by cheaply paid labor workers?And let's not forget the chocolates that were harvested by the use of slave and forced child labour in Central and South America... gracias por nada! Well, it's not too late to show the earth and yourself some love this Valentines Day !
1. Make Your Own Card
Whether you send an internet card or make one at home from recycled paper, you can still send filthy messages to your love ones without killing trees. Remember, you don't have to chop down wood to give a guy wood ! If you suck at arts and crafts you can purchase eco friendly cards from
Eco Fabulous
http://www.ecofabulous.com/holiday-and-gift/eco-friendly-valentines-cards/
2. Buy Organic Flowers
The best gift is to buy a potted plant that you can enjoy for an extended period of time...Note to men: Chia Pets are the ultimate cock blocker. If you do buy fresh cut flowers, purchase ones that are locally grown or organic so your date can enjoy flowers without the use of pesticides or toxic chemicals. Also by purchasing locally grown flowers, you can help support local farmers that keep our plants, fruits and vegetables chemical free. In contrast, non- organic flowers are sprayed with toxic chemicals that have detrimental effects on farmers. According to Cait Johnson, Assistant Producer, Care2 Healthy Living Channels "One of the problems with pesticides is that they don’t stay put: They drift, getting into and contaminating water supplies, our homes, gardens, and bodies. Since many pesticides have been implicated in ozone depletion and the rising incidence of cancer, non-organic flower-growing has a serious impact on our health and the environment." However, organic farmers rely on safe and natural methods to eradicate pests.
Think someone sucks? Send them lots of flowers with pesticides and hope that they slowly perish.
3. Fair Trade Chocolate
Next time you dip your boyfriends balls in chocolate, make sure its Fair Trade. Smothering your loved one's junk with chocolate harvested by laborers and enslaved children in poor developing nations is wrong! Fair trade chocolate ensures that workers receive fair wages and there are no children involved in the process. Fair trade also makes sure that all farmers have a safe and healthy working environment. So go nuts! Pun intended. Your welcome!
4. A Night At Home
Instead of going out to eat unhealthy foods prepared in bulk, stay home and cook a romantic dinner together. The whole point of Valentines Day is to take time to appreciate the ones you love. So why would you spend it in a room filled with hundreds of strangers? Unless your into that sort of thing.
Instead drink yummy organic wine (http://store.theorganicwinecompany.com/storefront.aspx) and cook your favorite meal with fresh vegetables meats and whole grains. What makes eating at home so different from dining out? When you create a dish just for you and those you love, you have control over the quality and quantity of the ingredients, unlike restaurant dining where you don't know where the food is from, who handled it, and how much salt, sugar and oil is added. When you cook for yourself it's special. You know exactly what you like and don't like. Because you make it for yourself you put extra love and thought in the meal as opposed to your food being quickly tossed on a plate by a stranger who might have accidentally let your poached salmon get season with some of the debris from the floor.
So light some delicious soy candles, take a hot bath with lavender and vanilla , cook a savory meal and enjoy delightful conversation with your special someone... whether that be a friend, boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, wife or Snowball the cat.
Most importantly, don't forget to show yourself some love. Even if you don't have a significant other in your life, you'll always have you. Take the time to appreciate your accomplishments. We spend so much time thinking about what we don't have, that we rarely take the time to appreciate all the wonderful things we do have. In Oscar Wilde's comedic stage play An Ideal Husband, the main character Lord Goring exercises this principle declaring " To love oneself is the beginning of a lifetime romance."
Being in a loving relationship is wonderful, but how can someone else love and respect you if you don't love and respect yourself? Do something that is just for you. Take a walk on the beach, read a good book, go for a run, write, or meditate. Walk with confidence and your head held high. If someone doesn’t like it they can suck it. You're too busy enjoying and improving your own life while touching the lives of others in a positive and powerful way.
and Remember... Don't be a fool... wrap your tool !
Peace, Veggies and Rock'N Roll !
Love,
Happy Healthy Hippie
happyhealthyhippie.net
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