Valentine’s Day is all about love. It’s a day to celebrate how much we care about the people around us. Fancy dinners, glitter cards, bouquets of roses, teddies, ornaments you will never use again. Not to mention, endless throwaway decorations, balloons, fancy hearts that will end up in the trash. Did you ever consider how harmful for the planet Valentine’s Day is? Is it possible to have an eco-friendly Valentine’s Day?

Whether you thought about it or not, don’t worry! Being eco-conscious doesn’t mean you can’t celebrate Valentine’s Day anymore. You can make smarter choices to also show your love to the planet. To help you do it differently this year, we’ve put together a list of 8 green ideas for an eco-friendly Valentine’s Day.

1. A sweet delight

Think twice before picking plastic-wrapped chocolate from the convenience store. Why not go for a greener alternative? We all know chocolate is delicious and sweet, why not try to make it yourself? Or better yet, together! Maybe a chocolate bar is too much. But you have infinite options of sweet delicacies to choose from for you to prepare from your home. This, for sure, will help you with your eco-friendly Valentine’s Day!

If you are not a great cook or you don’t have much time, you can consider buying chocolate from a local farmer or vendor. And then, wrap it yourself! Or you can also buy fair trade certified chocolates. You can find more information on Fair Trade.

2. Decorate your home with love

You can transform your home or the place you are celebrating, into a room full of love And you can do it while still taking care of the planet! Opt for natural candles free of chemicals, instead of paraffin wax candles. You can choose the perfect scent to set the mood for your eco-friendly Valentine’s Day.

Additionally, try to keep things environmentally friendly when it comes to bouquets. You don’t need to buy bunches of roses, which are out of season and often wrapped in plastic. Have you thought about a potted plant? You can see what local plants grow near your home this season! You can think about the plant as a great idea to nurture it with love together with your partner.

3. Not cards, not flowers – both!

Handwritten love notes are so nice! We all love to receive one of those once in a while For your eco-friendly Valentine’s Day, you can use plantable greeting cards. Amazing, right? You can check out selected ones from The Seed Card Company to choose your preferred one. You will not only give your loved one a pretty card with some touching words, but you will also give flowers!

4. Wrap the gift with creativity

There are a lot of recyclable alternatives to wrapping your gift with love. You can look in your home for anything that can be reused, like a T-shirt, jeans, a cloth bag, a scarf, brown paper, a box. You can transform them into a little bag or box. Just imagine how perfect would be if that item also has a meaning for you and your loved one!

5. Experience love together!

Is there anything that gives us more joy than a perfect moment with the person we love? Our joy is based on little happy moments during our life. Planning one of those with your partner would make the perfect eco-friendly Valentine’s Day! 

It doesn’t have to be the trip of the year, or an expensive event to attend. You can keep it simple with a walk in the park, or even an evening playing games. Try to be more creative and set up a spa at home. Give each other massages, take a bath, do some facial masks. Or, why not cook an exotic meal together, do some DIY crafts? There are a lot of alternatives. An experience experiences box could be a fun way of trying something new together. 

A more eco-friendly alternative would be an app like The Nudge. The Nudge sends you text messages with fun date ideas around your city. They are currently present in NYC, Chicago, Austin, LA, Dallas, Denver, San Francisco, Nashville, DC, and Seattle. If your city doesn’t have Nudge, we suggest looking for local travel guides and your city’s tourism board. It’s never too late to be a tourist in your own hometown!

Remembering to take care of the environment is as important as showing our love for those we care about. This year, mix things up with an eco-friendly Valentine’s Day!

If you’re looking for more ideas on how to make your day-to-day more eco-friendly, check out all of our Sustainability articles!