Will U B Green?
With luv from Jac
It's February and that means snow, snow, and Valentine's Day. Holidays are always filled with more STUFF, and a lot of it can end up in the landfill. We thought you might love some ideas on how to be sweet to the planet this Valentine's Day.
Thanks for reading, from UR #1 Fan, Go Green GE!
How can I show some love to the planet this Valentine's Day?
News this week reported that Americans plan to spend nearly $26 BILLION on Valentine's Day this year! The top 3 items are candy, greeting cards, and flowers...and what do they have in common? Most of them will end up getting trashed after the holiday! It can feel challenging to celebrate this much waste. So here is some brain candy on sustainable celebrations, and we share more in the tips section too!
Greeting Cards - Cards with foil, glitter, or trinkets cannot be recycled. Ditto for cards that sing, dance or light up - those contain small batteries (which are not great even in the landfill, so try to avoid or REUSE them!) There are lots of recycled paper options out there you can send to your sweetie instead.
Class Valentine cards - This is a tough one. How many of us have kids who come home with a bag full of plastic trinkets on Valentine's Day (that ends up in the garbage)?! My kids rarely not even look at the stuff that comes home in their valentines box. Be a part of the solution - share ideas with other class parents for a plastic-free holiday. Or go old school and just have them give the cards!
Candy - That annoying ex from your Halloween party is back - palm oil! Palm oil is a sustainable nightmare that results in heavy deforestation. It is an ingredient widely used in candy as well as a number of pre-packaged foods and cosmetics. Look for candy made without palm oil - here's a huge list and more information.
Flowers - These beauties are tough on the planet in a lot of ways. Because they are sold strictly based on appearance, they have to look nearly perfect. This results in the use of herbicides and pesticides to create those blooms. Also, since it's winter here, fresh flowers need to be shipped in. For example, the 100 million roses grown for Valentine’s Day in the US produce 9,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions - the equivalent of driving 1,911 cars for a year or powering 1,039 homes for a year! Roses are typically grown in warmer climates which means they have to be flown around the world. If you are buying flowers, consider buying from a local florist and asking for local blooms if they have them. Unfortunately, we aren't able to find great local options to recommend as of the time of this newsletter. But we have more ideas on how to show your love in the tips section.
Show your love for the planet (Tips!)
Greeting cards - Instead of buying new, save and REUSE your Valentine Card for your sweetie. Keep adding messages each year and pass back and forth. In a few years you'll have lots of love to look back upon!
Class valentine cards - Instead of buying new, RECYCLE materials around the house to make cards. Index cards work really well, as does plain old construction paper!
Another idea is printable bookmarks for class cards - buy the digital file on Etsy, download, print on card stock paper. No envelopes, no extra junk, no packaging from the store!
Flowers - Instead of a conventional bouquet of cut flowers, try dried flowers, a plant, a collection of spring bulbs that you can plant once they are done flowering (we saw these at Trader Joes'!) or even plant a tree for your loved one!
Show your for the planet this Valentine’s Day! What creative ideas do you have to share? Give us a shout at gogreenglenellyn@gmail.com, and we'll feature your tip in a future newsletter or log post!
