This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at FSU chapter.

It’s almost Valentine’s Day! And as an environmentalist finding eco-friendly gifts that are also meaningful can be incredibly difficult. That’s why I’m here to tell you about how to make this Valentine’s Day special and sustainable for your significant other, best friends or family members!

1. Flowers

flower vase bouquet — Leonardo Wong on Unsplash

What’s Valentine’s Day without roses? Typically, bouquets are wrapped in plastic and as we all know, plastic is incredibly dangerous for the planet. Not only is it not biodegradable, meaning every piece of plastic that was ever created still exists, but by 2050 more plastic is expected to be in the ocean than fish! And one way you can prevent that from happening is by going to your local florist and asking for your roses without any wrapping on them. You can then customize how you want to present your flowers to your lover!

If you don’t have access to a flower shop, an alternative I highly recommend is ordering from a sustainable store online.

Here’s a list of some sustainable flower shops!

2. Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Another Valentine’s Day staple is chocolate covered strawberries! These tend to be incredibly special when made by hand. I recommend using vegan chocolate to minimize your carbon footprint and to buy the strawberries from a local farm if possible. Here’s a link to one of my favorite blogs with a full recipe to make this delicious dessert on your own!

3. Heart-Shaped Cookies

To continue with the theme of DIY-ing your Valentine’s gifts, I suggest making heart-shaped cookies. Not only is baking one of the best ways to express your love to someone important in your life, but it’s delicious as well. Here’s a link for my favorite vegan sugar cookie recipe!

4. Candles

Alisa Anton U_Z0X — Alisa Anton / Unsplash

In my opinion, candles are easily the simplest and most effective gift for anyone. But if you didn’t know, conventional candles are terrible for the environment. It turns out that conventional candles release green-house gasses as they burn. Luckily for you, I have provided some links for eco-friendly candles that smell just as good!

Prosperity Catalyst

Orangutan Foundation International

Sanari Plant-Based Candles

Keap Brooklyn

5. Cards

i love you card — Naomi Irons on Unsplash

Lastly, what’s Valentine’s Day without a personalized card? This idea is my favorite gift regardless of the holiday. It allows you to write a heartfelt note about how much the recipient means to you. The only problem is most cards come wrapped in plastic or are even made of plastic! Fortunately, there is a multitude of online stores that make their own cards out of sustainable materials. And because most of these are handmade, it makes it super easy to customize!

Here are some links:

Botanical Paper Works

Paper Culture

Pear Tree

Style Me Green Studio

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