8 Ways to Give Green Love on Valentine's Day

There's no doubt Valentine's Day has become big business and while we wholeheartedly support lavishing your love on what many call the most romantic day of the year, we've come up with eight eco-friendly Valentine's ideas to help do this with a dose planet-friendliness in mind.

To help put this holiday in perspective, here are some interesting consumption facts, according to American Greetings.

• After Christmas, Valentine's Day is the second largest card-sending holiday with around one billion cards sent globally. One billion cards stretched end to end would wrap around the world five times!
• Over 36 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolate are sold each year.
• Valentine’s Day is the top holiday for fresh flower purchases with red roses being most popular.
• 10% of engagements happen on Valentine’s day.

This kind of big business means a potentially big impact on the environment. Spreading a little love to the environment too could go a long way to lessening this impact. Here are eight ways to do it.

1. Think less is more and you'll consume less. A small token of your love says just as much as that huge heart-holding polyester teddy bear that he or she will be wondering what to do with by the time July rolls around. For this holiday in particular, it truly should be the thought that counts.
   
2. Choose eco-friendly gift options that not only show a little creativity on your part but are often healthier for the recipient too. Pink Recycled Skateboard Cufflinks and Heart Bike Bells are great for the planet. Chemical-free Scotch Naturals Kiltlifter Red Nail Polish and natural Aloe Jojoba Bubble Bath are healthy options for your love.
3. For the chocolate lover, think organic chocolate - Denman Island Chocolate is one of our local favourites or better yet, go for a calorie-free chocolate flower growing kit.
4. If you're preparing a meal, buy organic or locally grown produce and other foods and cut down the meal's carbon footprint. The same goes for choosing from a restaurant's menu.
   
5. Buy organic or locally grown cut flowers - check out sierraeco.com for a listing of florists in Canada carrying organic, fair traded flowers. If they're being delivered at work, hospital or anywhere else a vase might not be readily available, a great addition to help ensure they last is a collapsible, recyclable plastic flower vase.
6. Consider sending an e-card instead of traditional card. Jacquielawson.com is one of our favourite e-card sites.
7. If you are a traditionalist (like many), choose a card made from recycled or tree-free paper or make your own card(s) with materials you already have in your home.
   
8. If you're buying jewelry, consider local artisans or recycled materials first and jewelers who are certified to be sourcing precious metals and gemstones in an ecologically and socially responsible manner. While no form of mining can be considered truly environmentally friendly, some responsible mining companies are making an effort to ensure that damage to the environment is minimal, effluent properly managed, workers fairly treated and areas mined rehabilitated.

These are just a few ideas about enjoying an eco-friendly Valentine's Day. If you have any more or some general thoughts about Valentine's Day, please leave a comment below. We'd love to hear from you! For more green living ideas, visit eco boutique Lavish & Lime.

Valentines Giveaway: Win a Hopscotch Kids Natural Nail Polish + Remover

We love seeing little divas all decked out but what we really love is when they glam it up with natural products that we know won't cause them harm. Our girls love Hopscotch Kids Natural Nail Polish (so do we) and with our Valentines Day 2011 Giveaway - we hope you do too!

Our Hopscotch Kids Water Colors nail polish is completely water-based and produced with none of the harmful toxic chemicals found in most nail polishes. There is no formaldehyde, phthalates or fd&c (toxic colouring). This safe nail polish does not result in yellowing or drying of the nails, there's no awful 'chemical smell' to deal with and it is 100% biodegradable. The more you use it, the more it actually conditions and nourishes nails.

Choose from nine different Hopscotch Kids Nail Colors with great names, including Red Rover, Ice Cream Soda Pop, Bubble Gum in a Dish, Teddy Bear, and Peter Pumpkin Eater.

We believe in giving gifts that we think kids will actually use, not abandon immediately after opening. One of our best Valentine's gifts for kids along this line would be a Hopscotch Kids Natural Nail Polish plus a Hopscotch Natural Nail Polish Remover - we're certain these great Valentine's gifts would make any little Valentine swoon.

HOW TO WIN A HOPSCOTCH NAIL POLISH OF YOUR CHOICE - for Valentine's Day
Leave a comment below telling us which colour of Hopscotch Kids Natural Safe Natural Polish you'd like to win, why and you might just win it PLUS a Hopscotch polish remover ($25 value)! Please include your email address so we can contact you if you win. Random draw will be on February 8th so we can ship the prize in time for February 14th.

Extra entries: join us on our Lavish & Lime Facebook page and tell us below for two extra entries.

Good luck!

This giveaway is open to Canadian residents only.

Hopscotch Kids Water Colors Safe Natural Nail Polish is available at Lavish & Lime. For adults, check out our Scotch Naturals Watercolors Nail Polish, from the makers of Hopscotch. For more greener living ideas, please come by and browse our eco boutique at www.lavishandlime.com.

Great Valentines Ideas for Making your Own Cards

Without a doubt it's easiest to buy one of the many packs of Dora, Spiderman or other licensed Valentine's Day cards we see in all the shops but why not teach the kids slightly more planet-friendly ways and encourage their creativity at the same time?

Making your own Valentines cards with things you already have around the house is not only easier on the environment but it's a great way to help build kids' self-esteem with a sense of accomplishment.

We've scouted around and found a great UK-based site with lots of make it yourself Valentines cards ideas. From finger painting to printing and tissue paper to recycled fabric bits, there's a card here for every interest at pretty much every level. For some, you might have purchase supplies, like non-toxic finger paints, chemical-free natural felt markers or soy crayons but for most, you should be able to use items you already have.

If your child is to distribute cards to the entire class, our #1 card-making tip? Get started early. It's absolutely do-able, you may just have to do a little at a time, a few times. Happy card-making!

For more green living ideas, visit eco boutique Lavish & Lime. If you have any thoughts about cards or valentines ideas, please leave a comment below. We'd love to hear from you!

5 Reasons Why Cleanwell Liquid Hand Soap is our New BFF

New Year. New bug. We kicked off the New Year by participating (albeit unwillingly) in the GI outbreak that hit our local Vancouver hospital, community - and with annoyingly great precision, our household. The result? A few unwell tummies, a well used washing machine and a deep, long lasting relationship with Cleanwell All Natural Liquid Hand Soap.

In fact, it would be perfectly accurate to say Cleanwell liquid hand soap has become our new BFF. Sounding a wee bit over the top? Perhaps, but when you're hit with an onslaught of nausea, aches, pains and more, having something in hand to help fight those germs that you don't really understand is well, empowering.

We've always liked Cleanwell's range of pure and natural products, but here are five reasons why we really like their liquid hand soap - in particular - now.

1. Lab proven to kill 99.9% of germs on contact, including MRSA, Salmonella, Staph, and E. coli, Cleanwell hand soap gives us confidence that with every wash it truly is helping fight the germs that are making us sick and is preventing them from spreading to other members of the family.

2. It's free of parabens, triclosan and other potentially nasty chemicals so no matter how many times we wash our hands - which feels like hundreds and hundreds these last few days - we know we aren't absorbing toxins through our skin. There's no alcohol either, which means no dry, scaly skin.

3. You can easily peel the label off the Cleanwell liquid hand soap bottle so you're left with an attractive-looking soap dispenser sitting on your vanity rather than a commercialized bottle. While we've been using Cleanwell for some time, this exciting little discovery was made reading the label's fine print in the wee hours of one recently long, dark, sleepless night while hanging out in the bathroom.

4. Our kids call Cleanwell the 'easy soap' as the bottle features an extremely easy pump action. The top of the pump you press down on is a relatively large, easy target for little hands and with one push there's oodles of all natural foam to wash (and play) with. The result is the kids are keen to use the pump and keep their hands clean too.

5. The scents are pleasantly natural, not irritatingly artificial-smelling and a very welcome, soothing change from the less than appetizing aromas resulting from stomach flu. We've found the spearmint lime scent to be particularly uplifting when there's seemingly no end in sight.

Cleanwell natural antibacterial liquid hand soap is available in Canada along with a range of other Cleanwell products at eco boutique Lavish & Lime. If you have any thoughts or ideas about Cleanwell or fighting germs in general, we'd love to hear from you. Please leave a comment below.