Looking for plastic-free Valentine's Day gifts for women and men? Then you've come to the right place! On February 14, we celebrate the Day of Lovers every year. It's a wonderful opportunity to give your partner and the people around you a lovely, loving surprise.
Unfortunately, experience has shown that Valentine's Day gifts also generate a lot of plastic waste. And that's why the day is also ideal for treating the environment with love.
In this article, I would therefore like to introduce you to some wonderful zero waste Valentine's Day gift ideas that you can use to emphasize your love for special people. Let's go!
- Soaps and shampoos
- Potted plants instead of cut flowers
- Breakfast in bed
- Cook a candlelight dinner together
- Homemade
- Massage with natural oils
- Giving away second-hand books
- Personal drinking bottle
- Eating in a zero waste restaurant or café
- Homemade treats
Notice: I have written a separate blog article about sustainable valentine gifts compiled. Feel free to take a look there too. Here, however, the focus is on avoiding waste on Lovers' Day.
Why should I give a Zero Waste gift for Valentine's Day?
According to legend, Valentine's Day owes its name to St. Valentine, who lived in Rome in the 3rd century. He is considered the patron saint of lovers and is said to have given flowers to the couples he married.₁
Over time, this developed into a custom that has somewhat degenerated nowadays. On Valentine's Day, garbage cans are pushed to their limits and a particularly large number of Natural resources wasted.
But where exactly is the waste generated and why should you strive for a plastic-free Valentine's Day gift? Here are some reasons that should motivate you:
- Overconsumption: The waste is mainly caused by the purchase of new goods that are cheaply produced, not durable or not at all to the liking of the recipient. Some products are even produced exclusively for Valentine's Day. What is not sold on the day is often sorted out and disposed of.
- Flowers: Roses and other cut flowers are a beautiful and fragrant gift on the day of your loved one. Unfortunately, they quickly deteriorate and end up in the bin again.
- Gift boxes: Who his Gifts not specifically packaged plastic-freealso causes plastic waste on Valentine's Day.
- Balloons & Confetti: Red balloons, plastic confetti and other Valentine's Day decorations are not absolutely necessary and also leave a lot of waste behind.
- Gift Cards: On Valentine's Day, experience shows that millions of plastic and paper gift cards are handed over, which are also often difficult to recycle.
Last but not least, the Plastic waste in the environment one of the largest Environmental problems of our time, at which every year millions of animals use.
What should plastic-free Valentine's Day gifts be like?
So the motives are obvious. To make it easier for you, I would like to give you some more information on what a really good zero waste Valentine's gift looks like:
- Durable: A beautiful, plastic-free gift idea is long-lasting and won't end up in the garbage can after a week. It fits in well with the character or interests of the person receiving the gift.
- Avoiding waste: The aim is to avoid new packaged goods and the generation of waste in general as far as possible. A good gift is therefore resource-saving, loose, used or non-physical.
- Experiences instead of things: As a rule, shared experiences do not involve plastic waste and are truly special gifts that give pleasure for a long time and are particularly fondly remembered.
To find the right gift and avoid buying a new one, you should, among other things. use what you have, make things yourself and, if necessary, pack them yourself.
10 gift ideas: Which plastic-free Valentine's gifts are particularly nice?
Now you know what to look out for on Valentine's Day without plastic. So the theory is clear. But what exactly can I give to my partner or other loving people?
While jewelry is a classic, it is unfortunately also extremely resource-intensive and exploitative in its extraction and production. If it still has to be jewelry, you should buy it used, recycled, vintage or fairtrade.
However, I would now like to introduce you to some other plastic-free Valentine's Day gifts for men and women that you and the person receiving the gift might also like.
1. soaps and shampoos
How about plastic-free Bar soaps with laurel oil and lemongrass or solid organic shea shampoo in recyclable paper packaging? In addition to soaps, you can also buy compostable sponges, solid deodorant or countless other beautiful things from the Zero Waste Bathroom give as a gift for Valentine's Day.
Just look around here for plastic-free cosmetic products:
2. potted plants instead of cut flowers
Unfortunately, to the surprise of many people, roses and cut flowers do not tell a story of love. They are usually pesticides and inhumane working conditions in Kenya and sent halfway around the world. And all that, only to throw them in the organic waste garbage can a few days after Valentine's Day.
Really long-lasting, as a good relationship should be, is therefore alternatively a houseplant as a gift for Valentine's Day. Ideally you even grow them yourself from some offshootsso that you definitely avoid flower pots and packaging waste.
3. breakfast in bed
A romantic breakfast in bed is the classic little gift for Valentine's Day. As usual, you can get bread rolls in a cloth bag from your favorite bakery, make your own spread from fresh vegetables or buy it in a jar - and muesli is also available in any organic market, packaged in paper or without packaging.
Or how about an alternative, for example with a vegan coconut French toast With berries, Tahina porridge with caramelized chili oranges, buttermilk Pancakes or a Love Smoothie Bowl?
Here you can find the right recipes to this.
4. homemade
You don't have to spend a fortune to prove to someone that you love them. Homemade, plastic-free Valentine's Day gifts are usually particularly effective, as they show that you care about the person you love. Effort for a small, loving surprise not shy.
Beautiful Gift cards for example, you can design them yourself from existing material instead of buying them with a plastic coating or glitter in the store.
Also a beautiful Collage with pictures from both of you always goes down well. And roses can be wonderfully folded from paper in origami style. Instructions for Paper roses you will find for example here on Pinterest.
Tip: Feel free to read also in the post "Using and upcycling old packaging". inspire more creativity.
5. cook a candlelight dinner together
What could be more romantic than a candlelit dinner prepared together in the comfort of your own home? Just cook what you feel like and makes sure that all Recycling leftovers as efficiently as possible can be used. Radish leaves and carrot greens, for example, can be used to make pesto, pumpkin seeds can be roasted and orange and lemon peel can be used to refine many dishes.
Here are a few more recommendations on my part:
- Food: A Valentine's Day menu for lovers with matching recipes is available here
- Wine: Matching vegan wines in the recyclable glass bottle you get here*
- Candles: And here is a beautiful Instructions for a zero waste candle
Additional Tip: In the detailed article about the A kitchen that is as plastic-free as possible for further inspiration.
6. massage with natural oils
As I said, shared experiences are usually the best gift ideas on the day of your loved one. How cool would it be if there was also a immediate, noticeable effect on health would have?
Why not treat your partner to a great massage for Valentine's Day with a little Olive oil and biological, essential oils from the glass bottle. Scented oils such as lavender, pine or citrus are ideal. Alternatively, you can of course also treat yourself to a couple's massage in a Wellness center with a waste-avoiding philosophy.
7. give away second-hand books
Want more ideas for plastic-free Valentine's Day gifts? Used books are, admittedly, a pretty simple gift idea for Valentine's Day. But if your Second hand purchase If the gift fits the person receiving it perfectly, it is guaranteed to have an impact. How about, for example, a Romance novel or interesting non-fiction books around your swarm's favorite topics?
Just have a look around here for used books:
Tip: Things buy used brings many advantages with it and is an essential basic rule of the Zero Waste Lifestyle. I explain this and other principles in the linked article.
8. eating in a zero waste restaurant or café
There are now also more and more restaurants and cafés that consciously pay attention to avoiding waste and conserving resources. In the middle of Berlin, for example, you will find the Zero Waste Restaurant "FREA. Here you can enjoy unique meals from sustainable, plant-based, seasonal and regional cuisine.
Alternatively, there are also zero waste cafés, which can now be found in almost every German city. The "In Good Company" in Hamburg or "Isla Coffee" in Berlin are quite prominent examples. You can also take your favorite person there for a nice Valentine's Day breakfast.
9. personal drinking bottle
A reusable Stainless steel drinking bottle or glass belongs to the classic Zero Waste Basic Equipment and is therefore also a wonderful, long-lasting and waste-avoiding gift for Valentine's Day. The person receiving the gift can Fill up anywhere, take with you and thus avoid expensive water from plastic bottles.
Here you get the two drinking bottles in different designs:
- Glass bottles with swing top and unique design from Soulbottles*
- Stainless steel water bottle from samebutgreen*
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Small glass bottle25 € -
Bottle brush16 € -
Large stainless steel drinking bottle25 €
10. homemade treats
As a little gift for Valentine's Day or a creative dessert to complement a candlelit dinner, you can conjure up a treat or two for your partner.
For example, how about Chocolate mousse from aquafabathe foamed water from the Kircher pea can. Or Chocolate strawberry parfait and homemade Broken chocolate with chopped almonds? The more you prepare yourself, the easier it is to save on packaging and other waste.
Get inspired by these recipes on Chef, for example.
Plastic-free gift ideas for Valentine's Day? No problem!
From bar soaps, candlelit dinners and couples' massages to reusable drinking bottles, you'll have plenty of inspiration for the most plastic-free Valentine's Day gifts possible to give your loved one. Further reduce our ecological footprint.
"The only thing of importance, when we depart, will be the traces of love we have left behind."
Albert Schweitzer (more at Love Quotes)
Regardless of what you choose, your gift should come from the heart and definitely bring joy to the recipient for a long time - then you are not only on the waste-avoiding side, but also on the safe side. And please don't forget that, apart from Valentine's Day, you can also be loving to other people on all other days of the year and give them the gift of love. live as plastic-free as possible can. 🙂
Do you have any questions, suggestions or other plastic-free gift ideas for Valentine's Day? Then I look forward to your comment under this article.
Stay clean,
PS: Tickets for an event Zero Waste Festival can of course be a great gift! In the linked article you can now find out how you can generally avoid waste at every festival event.
References:
₁ M. Riederer: The festival of lovers: Where does Valentine's Day come from? (as at: 17.01.2023), available at https://www.br.de/nachrichten/wissen/geschenke-und-blumen-warum-feiern-wir-den-valentinstag,Rom7tSn. [07.02.2023].
