A green Valentines Day

Green Living Tips   
February 14th, 2011

Credit: CarbonNYC / Flickr

By Green Living Tips

Valentine’s Day is an occasion celebrated on February 14 and while it has a very long history dating back hundreds of years, the scale of the occasion we have today is largely thanks (or no thanks) to marketers.

Some fast consumption related facts about Valentines day :

- Around a billion valentines are sent each year globally, making the day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year behind Christmas

- 25 percent of all seasonal cards annually are valentines

- Over 36 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolate are sold each year.

- Valentine’s Day is the top holiday for fresh flower purchases with red roses being most popular

- 10% of engagements happen on Valentine’s day

- Over 60 percent of planned to by at least one valentine last year

Those statistics come from American Greetings Corporation

Valentines Day is big business and as such has the potential to have substantial impact on the environment. For example, the one billion cards laid end to end would stretch around the world 5 times! That’s a lot of trees.

Valentines day gifts with the planet in mind

If Valentines Day is an important day for you or the one you love; then you can also show a bit of extra love for the environment by carefully considering what you buy. Here’s some ideas:

- Cards made from recycled or tree-free paper (this will be indicated on the card)

- Consider sending an e-card instead using one of the many quality services around.

- Fair trade and/or organic chocolate

This story continues at Green Living Tips.

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