With Valentine’s Day just a few days way, it’s time to rethink the ways in which we’ve always celebrated this most romantic day of the year. We’ve come up with an Instead Of List, to show some green alternatives for Valentine’s Day ideas. Because we really need to move beyond the generic chocolates, the clichéd bouquet of roses, and the cheesy stuffed toy.
Whether it’s your first date ever, or celebrating your tenth year already, it’s always a good time to be green.
Instead of a dinner date at a fancy restaurant…
- …have a cook-in in your home or a picnic outside. (Needless to say, dress up.)
What could be more romantic than a dinner date at home?
- For culinary-challenged people, cooking up an entire Valentine dinner course without a glitch might not be so easy. But that’s where the Internet comes in. Look up easy-to-cook recipes that even the amateur cook can turn into something special. Fool-proof dishes you can whip up: salads, barbecue, and kebabs, fruit shakes, and smoothies.
- Failing that, hire a great chef for just one night to help you out.
- If you like, skip the meat and consider vegan foods.
- To keep the carbon footprint low, buy organic and buy local. Same goes for chocolates and wines.
- You can even have your date conspire with the cooking or barbecuing, which gives the both of you something to do instead of just looking at each other and fumbling for a topic all night had you been in some uncomfortable fancy restaurant.
Instead of three dozen red roses…
- …give a real live potted flower, a pack of flower seeds to plant in the garden, or a low-maintenance succulent, or even potted herbs if your partner is the cook/foodie type.
Potted herbs in lieu of the generic red roses.
- or a fruit basket (more enjoyable to shop for various exotic fruits to fill your basket with, than just ordering a bunch of flowers),
- or organic beauty essentials from Neal’s Yard Remedies (soaps, lotions, massage oils, etc.)
(Be sure to include a romantic note.) They’ll appreciate it more than a bunch of cut flowers which will wilt anyway in a few days. Remember how Alicia Keys’ song “If I Ain’t Got You” goes: Some people need three dozen roses, and that’s the only way to prove you love them. Well we hope your partner’s not the type, but if you must insist on the cut flowers, at least make sure they’re pesticide-free organic ones.
Tulips are nice too, but only if they’re naturally growing in your area and don’t have to be flown in.
Instead of jetting off to some exotic place…
- …schedule a nice and fun and still romantic activity within your area, like pottery lessons (Ghost is so cliché, yes, but hey, we know you’ve always wondered just what kind of vase you’re capable of making).
- or cooking lessons (Mediterranean or Japanese or Thai cuisine, your call).
- or a trip to the nearest observatory to look at the planets, galaxies, and stars.
- or a trip to the museum (you don’t have to pretend you understand the art: art doesn’t need explaining).
- or enjoy a relaxing massage at the spa together.
- or bike together at the park.
- or reach out to your community. Whether it’s to volunteer at a local soup kitchen, or read books and play videogames with the senior citizens at the elderly home, or help lay some bricks at the nearest Habitat for Humanity for Humanity chapter, or even plant a tree together.
The point is, by staying within your area where you nonetheless find lots of worthwhile things to do, you skip the high-impact, carbon-heavy footprint of air travel.
Instead of some fancy, expensive, spanking new gift…
- …give the classic Valentine’s Day ideas gift:
- your DIY effort of waking up early just to make breakfast for your him or her.
- or an ongoing promise to help with the household chore: washing the dishes, giving the dog a bath, tending the garden, etc.
- or think second-hand. A second-hand—but still in perfect condition—copy of their favorite author, or someone whose work you think they might like. Or try non-fiction: a yoga book (complete with an all-natural yoga mat) or a recipe book (with matching bag of ingredients for one of the dishes featured there.)
- or CD’s from thrift shops. Look for classic romantic acts like Sade, Annie Lennox, Marvin Gaye, etc. Who knows you can even find fairly recent albums there that she/he might enjoy. (Be sure to rip the CD to a lossless format afterwards so they can play it in their iPod.)
Wall-E and EVE!
- hook your PC to your TV to watch movies together in your living room (Less carbon footprint than renting out a movie). (Unconventionally romantic movies you might enjoy: Reality Bites, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Edward Scissorhands, The Story of Us, Punch Drunk Love, and hey, even Wall-E.)
- Consider estate jewelry, which is also another term for previously-owned jewelry. These pieces definitely have character and are every bit and precious as authentic as a new diamond ring, but without the high price tag and carbon footprint.
- Want a card to go with it? Get one that’s printed on recycled paper. Or better yet, make your own Valentine’s card—unleash the graphic artist/painter in you—just be sure to use one paper and stick with it, no crumpling dozens just to get it perfect.
So you see, with these Valentine’s Day ideas, your celebration can be romantic and green and of course fun all at the same time. And the best part is: it’ll definitely stand out from all the regular Valentine’s date you’ve been having the previous years.
