For Valentine's Day, chocolate is a reliable gift, and if you're eco-minded, there are many organic and fair-trade varieties.
By Leslie Smith, Jr., USA TODAY
Ever get a Valentine's Day gift that made you swoon or one so weird you rethought the romance? Well, heads-up everyone, the holiday is upon us so let's swap stories (I'll tell mine.) But first, a few tips.Among the nifty eco-gift ideas that have crossed my desk are hemp lingerie, soy candles, chocolate bon-bon creme or -- if you're really serious -- a "conflict free" diamond.
Even if you're a diehard treehugger -- not that, as Jerry Seinfeld would say, there's anything wrong with that -- you don't have to remain clad in Patagonia and Birkenstock. As
The Daily Green notes, there are 20-plus styles of sexy lingerie made of organic cotton, hemp and bamboo. Yes, bamboo.
In
another post, it offers a guide to one of my ultimate weaknesses: chocolate. Theirs, of course, looks at organic and fair-trade varieties, such as those by
Green & Black,
CocoaVino,
Divine Chocolate,
Endangered Species Chocolate,
Newman's Own Organics, Los Angeles-based
Native Gardens, 365 Organic Truffles from
Whole Foods, the
Dagoba Organic Chocolate Sampler,
Sweet Earth Organic Chocolates,
Ithaca Fine Chocolates and Seattle's
Theo Chocolate. (OK, so I'm a bit obsessed with this gift idea.)
Mother Nature Network has its own list of 14 inexpensive gifts, which include adopting a sea creature on
Oceana's website, a solar cooling hat and Bee Gorgeous Organics' chocolate bon-bon cream (calorie-free.)
Roses are another safe, predictable Valentine's Day gift. Sierra Club advises buying locally and/or pesticide-free flowers.
By William B. Plowman, for USA TODAY
recommends pesticide-free flowers and/or those grown locally, saying 80% of flowers sold in the U.S. are imported from Colombia and Equador on refrigerated airplanes.My most memorable Valentine's gift? Well, it was green, in its own way. My husband, Alex, gave it to me the first year we were dating, nearly two decades ago. He made dinner in my apartment and then gave me an awesome triple-header of chocolate (of course), lingerie and flowers.
A lettuce spinner? This was my most memorable Valentine's Day gift. Handy, too.
What more could a girl want? Oh wait, there was another box. I couldn't image what it could be. As I unwrapped it, I stared incredulously at this round, white plastic gadget. "It's a lettuce spinner," he said. But why, I asked. He said gently: "Your lettuce is soggy."He did start with chocolate!
Readers: Do you have a gift that stands out? Would you wear hemp lingerie?
See pho
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