Love Your Partner AND the Planet this Valentine's Day
Annually on February 14th several countries from around the world celebrate Valentine’s Day. Those in love take this opportunity to reaffirm how they feel about their partner with cards, flowers, chocolates and gifts.
Valentine's Day is the second most popular card-sending holiday after Christmas and has become highly commercialised with Americans spending an average of $140 per person (or a total of $19 billion) and those in the UK spending almost $3 billion in the name of love.
Although Valentine’s Day is devoted to showing our loved ones how much they mean to us, for our Planet, Valentine’s Day is bad news having detrimental effects on our environment.
Unfortunately Valentine’s Day waste has serious, negative impacts on the environment and causes more damage to our Planet than any of us realise with an estimated 224 million roses, wine, champagne, chocolates, lingerie and other items purchased;
All of the products purchased and consumed for this one day causes more carbon dioxide emissions than driving around the entire world 4,000 times
The 1 billion Valentines Day cards sent around the world contribute to deforestation, with most ending up in landfill
All of the leftover paper and packaging from products that end up in landfill weighs more than 4,170 cars
ways to celebrate Valentines Day in a more sustainable way;
Send e-cards, make your own card or buy recycled paper cards
Buy a plant or if you want to be more traditional buy locally grown flowers or visit a farmers market and see what’s in season (flower growing producers are amongst the biggest users of pesticides that are harmful to the environment)
Buy organic, fair trade and sustainably produced flowers, chocolates or goods that have been made with respect to people and the environment
So, this year, rather than buying flowers that die a few days later or a card that brings a fleeting smile but then left to collect dust or placed in a drawer and never looked at again, instead celebrate this Valentine’s Day with your loved one by telling them what they mean to you and spending valuable time together creating memories and new experiences.
At MWR, we challenge you this Valentine’s Day to declare not only your love for your partner but also your love for our planet, the only one we have and worth protecting.
Photos by Pablo-Heimplatz & Miroslava, Unsplash