Ah, Valentine’s Day! A day dedicated to special people in your life both romantic and non-romantic. If you saunter in a CVS or Walgreens in the next few weeks, you’ll be greeted by mountains of red and pink cards, candies, and trinkets to commemorate your life. 

These are all tempting purchases to make, but resisting them may lead you to explore even more intimate and romantic ways of professing your love. 

Here are our favorite ways to say “I love you” while loving the earth, too. 

Homemade Cards  

Store-bought cards are perfect-looking and catchy, but they can also look a bit cheesy and impersonal. This year, steer away from mass-produced plastic-coated cards and get creative making your own! 

The beauty of making something yourself is being able to personalize it as much as you want. Don’t worry, it doesn’t need to be perfect. That’s part of what makes it so charming. You could even incorporate some inside jokes or reasons that person is so special to you. 

Acts of Service

Sometimes the best gifts aren’t things you can put in a box or bag. Acts of service are thoughts and romantic ways to show someone you care. They can be functional like cleaning the house or running errands, but they can also be a little sexy (wink, wink) depending on what everyone is in the mood for.

You could even make your acts of service into little coupons that your loved one can cash out. That way, they don’t feel like they only have one day to take advantage of your kind gestures. 

Airbnb in Nature

What better way to spend a romantic Valentine’s Day than nestled in the middle of nature? Renting an Airbnb for a night or two is a special way to reconnect with your partner while drowning out the hustle and bustle of the outside world. 

Airbnb has a great selection of cabins across the country (and around the world!) So, whether you’re looking for something on top of the mountains or in the middle of the desert, you’re bound to find a space to set the mood. 

Food & Home Baked Goods 

Does your sweetheart have a sweet tooth? The best way to ensure your Valentine’s Day doesn’t produce a lot of waste is to make everything edible! 

Chocolates or a candlelit dinner are always a win in our books. Bonus points if they are vegan! 

If you don’t feel like buying your partner nibbles is intimate enough, try your hand in the kitchen. You could bake them heart-shaped sugar cookies or try to recreate a dish from their favorite restaurant. Once again, the goal isn’t perfection, it’s personalization, so pour all your heart into whatever you make – but make sure to read the recipe thoroughly, too! 

Check out these delicious Valentine’s Day recipes:

Ditch the Teddy Bears and Other Throwaway Gifts 

Valentine’s Day trinkets like teddy bears holding hearts and plastic balloons that will deflate in a couple of days are relatively lackluster ways to show someone how much you care. They also almost always end up in the trash, which is not very romantic. 

This year, think about what kind of gift you want to get your loved one and where it might end up in a year’s time. 

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