SHOW THE LOVE WITHOUT COSTING THE EARTH (AKA 5 PRESENTS THAT AREN’T BAD FOR THE PLANET..)
It’s Valentine's Day in just a couple of days time, and I’m well aware that if you do celebrate it, then this post may well be too late if you’re an organised type.
Bear it in mind for next year if that’s the case, and don’t stop reading if you don’t celebrate Valentines Day (we gave up on it years ago!) because I’m going to be sharing some fascinating stats and some alternative gifts that are a great way to say ‘I love you” or “thank you” or “you’re really rather brilliant” at any time of the year.
Giving ‘stuff’ has become our way of saying I love you hasn’t it? And who doesn’t love a present?
But the problem with Valentines gifts, and indeed most gifts at any time of the year is that that although they might say “I love you” to the recipient, they aren’t usually saying “I love you" to either the people who made the gift, or to the planet.
We are at peak stuff.
We are using up resources at an astonishing rate; the people who make much of our stuff are being exploited; and most of us are struggling to find anywhere to put anymore stuff in our homes. Oh, and our landfills are full to bursting.
God I’m SUCH a party pooper aren’t I?
Flowers
After all, you can’t get much more natural than an actual flower right?
Well....just because it’s natural doesn’t unfortunately mean it’s harmless. I did a podcast last year with Sara Willman from My Flower Patch and was gobsmacked to learn that a bunch of imported flowers from Holland or Kenya can have the equivalent carbon footprint of a flight from London to Birmingham!!
AND that workers and growers in the flower industry can be working with lots of chemicals and very little protection and can work in pretty awful conditions.
Buying British flowers can reduce the carbon footprint of your flowers by around 90%!!
Now I know it’s February and not ideal weather for growing flowers here in the UK, but there are still options for fresh British blooms for Valentines Day – AND some florists do dried bouquets of UK grown flowers which are beautiful and last forever. I know this because my brilliant sister-in-law sent me a bunch for my birthday at the end of October last year from her local florist!
Check out the great website Flowers from the Farm which has lots more info about the benefits of buying local British blooms and has a directory you can search to find a florist local to you or your intended recipient.
Chocolate
OMG – I genuinely AM the fun police now aren’t I?
Can’t we even indulge in chocolate during lockdown without feeling guilty?
I’d love to say that you can and crack open a bar of (insert name of popular chocolate brand here) with you, but it turns out that’s not the case.
That’s shocking isn’t it? You can find out more about the campaign, the problem and what we can do about it on the Tony’s Chocoloney website here.
Ethical Consumer has a league table of the best and worst of the chocolate makers – Tony’s as mentioned, do pretty well, along with Seed and Bean, and Divine. Performing very poorly with scores of 1.5 out of 20 are Mars and Cadburys and Nestle gets a big fat zero.
Anything homemade
George Monbiot is a journalist for the Guardian and wrote a powerful piece called The Gift of Death back in 2012 – at the end is this paragraph:
"Bake them a cake, write them a poem, give them a kiss, tell them a joke, but for god’s sake stop trashing the planet to tell someone you care. All it shows is that you don’t."
Ouch.
You don’t have to be a brilliant baker, or a perfect poet, but something that you’ve put thought and time into will always be appreciated (especially if it’s edible…)
Climate Positive Gin
Now we’re talking right…!
Pretty much everything we eat and drink (and indeed buy) has a carbon footprint and is contributing to the greenhouse gases that are warming the planet. We can’t even drown our sorrows with a cheeky G&T or two without feeling like we’re a part of the problem.
Fortunately, if you or your loved ones are partial to a gin or two, you can now indulge with a clearer conscience (I take no blame for any ensuing headaches) – Arbikie Nadar gin is the first climate positive gin, made from peas, that saves 1.54kg of CO2 per bottle!
#ShowTheLove
If you’re not a fan of Valentines Day then you don’t need to be left out. You can use the occasion to show your love for the planet by joining in with the Climate Coalitions #ShowTheLove campaign. The idea is that you craft green hearts – however you can , crochet, knitting, felt, origami or just good old scissors and green paper - and then either use them to create a window display or similar to start conversations with your family and neighbours; or send a green heart to someone in a position of power, such as your MP to let them know that you’re concerned about the climate crisis and want to know what they’re doing to help.
We has a craft-a long session on Zoom one evening earlier on this month in The Knackered Mums Eco Club and it was brilliant to see everyone’s creations, as well as share ideas for where to send our hearts and support each to be brave and actually get them in the post!
This is potentially a great one to do with the kids as half-term approached (sorry Scotland, I know you’ve just had yours) – a screen-free, indoor activity and a gentle conversation starter for them to share what they love about the planet, and any worries they might have,
There’s loads more info on the Climate Coalition website here.
How about you?
Do you Valentine?
What are your fave low/no impact gifts to give, at any time of the year?
Let me know in the comments!
