In elementary school Valentine’s Day was a big deal. It was the moment to declare your feelings for your crush. For me I had to have the best decorated goodie bag. I wanted to show my crush I was something special. Let’s just say I didn’t waste a second to see if I had a card in my bag with one question: “Would you be my valentine?”
It can be extremely challenging to come up with Valentine’s Day gift ideas every year. Everyone wants to give a gift that’s meaningful, affordable, and will make the person happy. All three of those things are difficult and sometimes feel nearly impossible to do with the quick turn around from the holiday season.
There are so many ways to celebrate Valentine’s Day. Last year, I recommended three ways to embrace the holiday and share love in a post titled The Gifts Within. This year I wanted to provide a gift guide for those looking for more specific ideas that match your sustainability values and minimalism interest. The guide is divided first by items then experience depending on interest.
ITEMS
Have a glass of wine together under the stars:
- Wine bottles are recyclable
- Wine glasses are more sustainable and can be repurposed
Package-free candy:
- Bring your produce bags and use them as candy bags
- You get to pick exactly what you want and the amount you want
Repurposed Jewelry:
- Beautiful bracelets + a great mission = worthy of your coins.
- Purchasing a bracelet at RecoveryT support women in recovery
- A gift that helps you stay organized, achieve your goals, and last for two years 2020 & 2021!
Candles:
- Who doesn’t love some candles to set the tone for the night 😉
- Great starting place to buy candles is at Package Free Shop
EXPERIENCES
Take a walk in a new place or your favorite place: this will encourage you to get outdoors, have some physical movement, and maybe even learn a new area in your city
Make a meal together: find your partners favorite meal and cook it together, buy everything before, do all the prepping, so that when you cook it’s ideally just the quick fun part of putting everything together
Play games together: bring out a deck of cards, favorite board game, puzzle, or video game— it’s time to be playful with one another
Create art together: get paint, or markers, or color pencils create an art work together
Bike ride/scooter riding: this is great for doing something a little more fast paced out of your home
Professional Photo shoot: who doesn’t love a good clean professional photo to celebrate your love? I have two talented photographer friends LV Photography and Kevin Brays Photography. You should check them out!
Create a love bubble: A day of no phones… okay okay or maybe a 2 to 3 hours of a few blissful hours of being present with one another no distractions
I provided items and experiences to gift in this guide because I wanted to show there are ways to gift items that are sustainable-oriented.
A great option you can also do is pair an item with an experience. For instance, how fun would it be to have a glass of wine and play games together? Or to make a meal together and end with plastic-free candy as desert.
Valentine’s Day is just a reminder to love on people and celebrate the people around you. Show love this Valentine’s Day with gifts that also match your values <3