The 14th of February, St Valentine’s day, is a time to celebrate romance and love. Love for yourself, your partner, your family and friends. While this annual occasion has shifted into a flurry of synthetic gifts and random consumption, this year is a great time to show a little love for planet Earth while celebrating your romance. But... what to buy someone who loves the environment? How can you gift more sustainably?

“Love the earth as you would yourself!” John Denver

The good news is that even for the most popular Valentine's day gifts - there is ALWAYS a sustainable alternative. Here is our guide to sustainable Valentine’s gifts featuring eco-friendly alternatives for traditional options as well as some slightly different unique ideas for your love-fest!

Eco-alternatives to traditional gifts

Chocolate, happiness you can eat

Krakakoa chocolate ideal sustainable valentines gift

Relish in discovering your favourite flavour with this eco-friendly farm-to-bar artisanal chocolate. The cacao is organic and sourced from small farms that practice sustainable farming methods so you know exactly what you are getting in each bar. Buy good quality chocolate and give back to the community. We love Krakakoa – goodness from the Indonesian archipelago supporting farmers to become master
craftsmen in their trade and creating exceptional chocolate products for you to enjoy.

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This love is the rose that blooms forever

Silk Flowers Singapore sustainable flowers

Image: Silk Flowers Singapore

A great eco-friendly alternative to fresh-cut flowers that have likely been wrapped in plastic and flown in from far-away lands is silk flowers. They look authentically beautiful and a long-lasting gift that will go on forever.

Eternal flame

bawah breeze soy wax candle sustainable gift for valentines

The Bawah Breeze candle is created by fair trade social enterprise The Seed Basket, where 100% of profits from each candle purchased support empowering women and local families to create a better future. The islands at Bawah Reserve are situated in the Riau province so we are very happy to be supporting this great local charity. Buy it here.

Lovely lingerie

Azura sustainable underwear for valentines

Give the gift that keeps on giving throughout the year by wrapping your sweetheart in sustainable and ethically made lingerie. Elegant or racy the choice is yours but the super soft organic cotton or lace pieces from Azura Bay are sure to be comfy, earth-friendly, and romantic.

Something a little different

Love Letters

Legend has it that whilst in prison Saint Valentine restored sight to the blind daughter of his jailer when he wrote the jailer's daughter a letter signed; Your Valentine, as a farewell before his execution. This beautiful story reminds us of the true meaning of love. How about offering acts of kindness to celebrate your affection? There are some lovely ideas here to get you thinking and we promise that some of these
actions will nurture a solid relationship between you and your partner. No cash or gift wrap is required.

Bee my Valentine

bumble bee wwf adoption valentines sustainable gift

Something you might not know is that Saint Valentine of Rome is also the patron saint of beekeepers – multi-tasking in the 3 rd century! Considering that bees and honey hit high on the sustainability fronts, why not wow your partner by making them the proud adopted parent of a bee with these WWF gift packs. You can beguile them with your knowledge of the interesting facts about Saint Valentine too.

Baking with love

nyonya-pineapple-tarts

Image: Nonya Cooking

What better way to show your Valentine that you care about them than by spending time lovingly baking for them. Think about your partner's favourite dessert and use sustainably sourced ingredients to make your own personal version of the treat. Plus you get to enjoy the fruits of your labour too.

Not that great in the kitchen? Not to worry, this easy pineapple tart recipe will impress your sweetheart and it comes together in about 30 minutes.

Charity

School girls 4 Bawah Anambas Foundation English Classes donation for valentines

Finally, we would be remiss if we did not mention the Foundation we actively support that continues to work with the local community in the Anambas islands with projects on Forest Conservation, Marine Conservation, and programmes to lift up the local communities of the Anambas Islands. All donations go directly to the programmes they support. Make your donation here.

Do share any other environmentally eco-friendly Valentine's Day gift ideas you come across!

We send our love to all our friends and family and look forward to seeing you all soon.

Happy Valentine’s Day.

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