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Get creative and show the planet some love too with these eco-friendly Valentine’s gift ideas for your loved one!
Whether it’s a physical gift made with sustainable materials or an intentional experience together, you can definitely have an eco-friendly Valentine’s Day this year while loving the special person in your life.
Looking for guidance on how to easily make your home more eco-friendly? Click the button below for your free room-by-room guide I used to make my own house sustainable:
^ An eco-friendly date idea is hiking to an overlook to enjoy beautiful nature views.
Valentine’s Day… You might love it. You might hate it.
Obviously we all want to “love our loved ones every day, not just one day a year”. But maybe you still want to do something a little extra special with your SO on this day!
Instead of buying into the commercialization of Valentine’s day by purchasing a [useless] material gift that goes to the landfill shortly after February 14th (I’m talking to you teddy bears), consider some of these eco-friendly Valentine’s gift ideas!
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^ On this eco-friendly date night we rode our bikes around downtown and ended it an ice cream shop.
Eco-Friendly Valentine’s Gift Ideas:
An experience together on Valentine’s Day.
1. Make a meal together and eat it by candlelight. Cooking together can be a romantic experience and, if anything, a bonding one. Maybe you cook something fancier than normal and then set up a romantic candlelit dinner table. Or you could even have fun putting together a homemade pizza and have a movie night.
2. Ride bikes to coffee or ice cream shops. One of the most memorable dates with my husband was when we took our bikes downtown and rode them on bike-safe paths to go from a cool city landmark to our final destination: an ice cream shop. You could borrow bikes or rent electric scooters and go from coffee shops, landmarks, bakeries, and ice cream shops for a really fun and sustainable Valentine’s date experience!
3. Discover a new park or hiking trail. Maybe it’s time to break your routine and find a new local park, natural area, or trail to walk or hike. Look for cool views or overlooks, try to learn about native plants, or simply enjoy holding hands and taking things easy.
Related: 7 Easy Green New Year’s Resolutions (mine is taking the dog to new parks and trails this year!)
4. Paddleboard or kayak a nearby river or lake. If you live in a mild climate, February could bring you nice enough weather to break out your paddleboard (here’s the one I own and love). Or rent a kayak or canoe and go paddle down a river or around a lake.
5. Learn to bake something new. One time, we decided to learn how to make soft pretzels and it was awesome! So much easier than I expected. And we had to work together to make them, figuring it out together as we went. We made different toppings and enjoyed our creations afterwards. Our next planned baking adventure is learning to make old-fashioned donuts and I am so excited.
Keep it simple…
Pick something you both would enjoy eating, gather the ingredients, and spend a Valentine’s evening playing around in the kitchen.
^ Give the gift of an upcoming camping trip to a local state park.
An event experience for the near future.
Obviously, you don’t have to do something on Valentine’s Day to prove your love. Instead, another eco-friendly Valentine’s Day gift idea could be the promise of a date for the near future.
We live busy lives. You can use this day to simply show you’re thinking of your loved one and intend to take them somewhere special when it works best for both of your schedules.
Some future-focused eco-friendly Valentine’s experience gifts are:
6. movie tickets
7. book a hotel “staycation” weekend or a camping trip
8. purchase cooking lessons
9. concert tickets
10. schedule a couples massage
Related: 17 Sustainable Fun Outdoor Activities to do When You’re Bored
^ For an eco-friendly Valetine’s gift, paint something! Cardstock paper is biodegradable, but even better is to use FSC-Certified paper (from sustainably grown forests).
Physical eco-friendly Valentine’s Day Gift ideas:
If you or your significant other are “gift-givers” and it’s really meaningful to give or receive a physical heartfelt gift, then here are some eco-friendly gift ideas for that too!
11. Potted plant. Anytime I suggest getting a loved one a plant, I can’t help but think of Kate Hudson yelling “Our love fern! You let it die!” in How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (right?? anyone else?).
If your loved one is out of town often or can’t keep plants alive, maybe don’t give them a valentine’s plant…
But otherwise, it’s a sweet idea to keep this plant alive together!
It also contributes to better indoor air quality and obviously lasts much longer than cut flowers.
Knowing my love of plants, my valentine took me to a new plant nursery and we picked out a cute little potted cactus. Kudos to my hubby for such a thoughtful and eco-friendly Valentine’s Day date.
12. Unique handcrafted gift. Etsy has a plethora of unique gifts for this occasion. For one-of-a-kind and eco-friendly Valentine’s gift ideas, check out my Etsy gift guides: Valentine’s gift guide and For Her gift guide. I try to only include gift ideas that are made with sustainable materials and are shipped with eco-friendly packaging. Here’s some examples of some of the gift ideas in these two guides I created: personalized leather coasters, recycled paper journal, and a metal “i pick you” guitar pick.
13. Baked goods. Bake some cookies, cupcakes, cake, or your “person’s” favorite treat! Maybe they love chocolate cake but only really eat it once a year on their birthday. Maybe they are gluten-intolerant and you make them homemade gluten-free cupcakes.
One year, while we were still dating, I made my now-husband his favorite cookies and I wrote our initials in melted chocolate on each cookie. They were a hit. And these homemade sustainable valentines gifts meant more to him than if I had picked up some plastic-packaged and preservative-filled cookies at the store.
14. Handmade gift. If you’re artistic, could you draw or paint them something? If you are crafty, maybe make them a DIY macramé plant hanger (and add a plant in it too).
You could even go to a paint-your-own pottery studio together. Or print out pictures of you and personalize a picture frame by writing cute notes on it, painting it their favorite colors, or gluing on their initials with 3-d block letters.
Looking for guidance on how to easily make your home more eco-friendly? Click the button below for your free room-by-room guide I used to make my own sustainable house:
Which of these eco-friendly Valentine’s gift ideas sparks your interest?
Have you done any of these before?
Let me know in the comments – I’d love to hear!
Happy Valentine’s Day!
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These are wonderful ideas! Thank you!
Thanks! I’m glad you liked them!
Great ideas to give meaningful Valentine’s gifts that aren’t useless (teddy bears, LOL!). Loved the idea of giving an experience like a bike ride to the ice cream parlor.
Haha thanks! Maybe it’s just me…but it seems like a lot of people would enjoy an experience together more than a teddy bear anyways!
The eco-friendly date ideas are so amazing! Riding a bike to a coffee shop or ice cream shop is such a unique and great idea!
I’m glad you like them! I knoww, that was such a fun date! Highly recommend 😉