It's interesting to think that even meaningful gestures and precious memories from childhood could have been sustainable if people would have viewed production in a different light. One specific example is Valentines Day. I remember back to the elementary years when the true purpose and meaning of the day had really no relevance to the acts and activities that took place.
I would spend the entire week decorating an old shoe box so that my Valentines Day box would be the prettiest and most perfect in order to win the decorating competition. I would glue on wrapping paper, ribbons, buttons, cut outs of hearts and little heart candies which read "sweetheart" or "be mine". Then I would beg my mother at the grocery store to get the coolest Valentines Day cards which had pictures of Power Rangers or Tweety and Sylvester because these cards I would put my name on and would reflect my personality. Then I would beg and beg in order to get the best candy to go with my cards.
Now in elementary school, if you were going to give out a valentine, you had to give it to every single student (making the day that much more insignificant to its true purpose). So I walked around the room proudly, dropping my valentines into all the wonderfully decorated boxes and anticipated the reward of 29 other card valentines accompanied with assorted candies.
Looking back I realize how much "stuff" I and all my other classmates would use to continue a tradition that I didn't understand the true meaning of. And that is why I was excited to come across an article on The Green Guide on how to have a more sustainable and green Valentines Day.
They advise to:
For the card valentines, use printed card stock that may be lying around at your house such as: decks of cards or baseball cards. You can use the image on the cards and then just print out an overall greeting.
If you have time, you can even make homemade paper!
And give out organic lollipops.
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