Monday, February 14, 2011

V Day

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things

But not on Valentine's Day. On that day it's Chocolates & Flowers & a Fancy Dinner that are on the top of our favourites list. This is why we’ve assembled for you a list of Green, Sustainable things to do or think of on this 14th of February for your Valentine/Valentino, based on the traditional V-Day gift list.

UNFCCC : U Need Flowers, Chocolates and other Calories for your Chica/Chico


The Chocolates


The one and only rule of buying chocolates is: buy Fair trade & Organic chocolates. This is a Two-For-One deal: you don't only get the great yummy-goodness of chocolate, you get a clean conscience to boost.

If you buy Theo’s Good For All chocolates (unfortunately only available in the US), you even get a Three-For-One deal: on top of the taste and the conscience, you get the assurance that a part of your money goes to the Jane Goodall Institute.


The Fancy Dinner 

First, you might want to ask yourself whether you wouldn't much rather have an intimate tête-à-tête at home? 
Just the two of you, some candles, a bottle of bubbles & some corny music in the background? It's more romantic, reminds your partner what a terrific cook you are (when you put your mind to it), better for the environment (no need to jump into the car and waste precious romance-time getting into the city & looking for a parking spot) and (though you probably do not want to emphasise this) cheaper. 

When purchasing the ingredients to your delightful dinner, you'll want to be green, of course. So pay attention to what you're buying & where you're buying it. First, think local, second, think sustainable, third, think organic. The closer the stuff was grown or raised, the less miles had to be driven to get the food to where you bought it; the less chemicals used to counter insects or beef up your cattle, ... well... the less chemicals used; you know the drill (Source: Food Safety News). And if you want to be completely on the safe/green side, you'd also better stick to the seasonal food too (though I'm willing to give you a pass on this last one  considering that is it not that easy to get seasonal goodies in the middle of February)

If if you do want to eat out (or have to because of your distinct lack of an equipped kitchen or culinary qualities) trying keeping it as green as possible. Go by foot (romantic stroll in the sunset or moonlight anyone?) or by bike. Impress your significant other with your physical prowess. Choose a local restaurant which focuses on the aforementioned criteria (local - sustainable -  organic).



The Flowers

What's true for chocolates and fancy dinners is true for flowers as well: think local, sustainable & organic.

Rose by Robin_24
However, if you want something more special, something that symbolises "eternal love" better than fast-wilting flowers, you might want to try out the newest GMO : a Rose & Celery Splice (though they didn't mention a name, I'm rooting for CeleRose).  Researchers from the North Carolina State University have discovered that celery - next to being a very unpleasant tasting aphrodisiac - is also the proud possessor of a particular gene - mannitol dehydrogenase - which will turn the CeleRose less prone to wilting & more resistant to disease. And for those of you wondering, no, the smell of the rose will not be altered by this addition, only its vase-life.

If you're more in the mood for something that will likely outlive you and your significant other (and doesn't involve offspring), you can adopt a tree. With Tree Dedication you can dedicate a tree in any US state, Canada, Africa or Israel to your loved one.  For a mere US $ 25 dollars you get a tree, for US $ 60 half an acre and for US$ 99 an entire acre of forest.  The type of tree depends on the need of the forest it is planted in & though you will be able to visit the forest, you’ll never know which tree is actually “yours” (as it is forbidden to put foreign objects on trees in national forests).
You will of course receive a certificate (that you can design yourself) to commemorate this selfless act of your love...

If all this chocolate, flower & dinner stuff is too “old school” for you, however, you might want to check out the Bronx Zoo website. Their latest project has the catchy slogan “Flowers Wilt. Chocolates Melt. Roaches are forever”.
Yes,...  Roaches, Cockroaches, or – to be even more specific – Madagascar Hissing Roaches.
The zoo has launched a “Name a Roach” project which allows you, for a mere US $10 pittance, to name a roach. When you do, the zoo will send a certificate of Honor to that special someone explaining there’s an equally special (hissing and crawling) something living at the Bronx Zoo.  As Jim Breheny, senior vice president for Living Institutions and director of the Bronx Zoo, says “Nothing says forever like a cockroach. They are resourceful, resilient and have been around for hundreds of millions of years.”

So there’s no need to hurry, there are 58,000 of these “brown, iridescent beauties” waiting for you to give them a name.

It might of course be more appropriate (or realistic) to name one of the roaches after an ex, but that might just turn out to be a self-fulfilling prophecy (source of this latest suggestion : The Green Upgrader).



For all those people that don’t have a special someone in their lives (or did but the ungrateful insignificant other did not appreciate having a roach named after them) there’s the Green Drinks program. It is meant to bring together like-minded individuals from the green community.
You meet, greet &  talk about sustainability with the future love of your life. What’s not to love?


Thank you to Mnn, the Food Safety News, the Green Upgrader, EcoWomen and PhysOrg for bringing our attention to this Romantic Data and to the Bronx Zoo, Trees Instead, and many others for making This Valentines the most Remember-worthy Valentines Ever.

1 comment:

  1. For those lonely souls that are based in the Mumbai-Area, there is still hope.
    This Thursday, the 24th of February, a mere ten days after Valentines, the First Green Drinks (Mumbai) will be happening!

    So all of you Green People : come to the Elbo Room at 7.30 PM on the 24th of February for the First Green Drinks Mumbai!

    ReplyDelete