(Com)passionate Valentine’s Day Gifts

By on February 5, 2009 in Causes

Please your Valentine and nurture the world with these sustainable, ethical, intentional and cruelty-free gift options.

Read the Complete Guide to:
Valentine’s Day

1. Fair Trade Wine. "Drink like you give a damn" says Etica, the United States’ top fair trade wine distributor. Etica’s producers in South Africa, Argentina and Chile are paid an honest wage for their work. Buying directly from local cooperatives, Etica’s aim is to help farming communities become self-sustaining.

2. Clean Water. A $20 Valentine’s Day water bottle from Charity Water will give an individual 20 years of clean drinking water. Give Cupid a rest this year and call on Hydrus, the god of clean water.


3. Intentional Chocolate. Intentional Chocolate uses trained meditators (some who’ve worked with the Dalai Lama) to project positive intention into a device designed to capture, hold and transfer the intention into food products. Intentional Chocolate subscribes to the principle that intention embedded in food can positively affect the snacker–think less stress and fatigue and increased calmness. 


4. Conflict-free Diamonds. ‘Beauty knows no pain’ is plainly incorrect when it comes to conflict diamonds. Make sure that the gems you purchase or sport aren’t a product of violence. Brilliant Earth carries only Canadian, cruelty-free diamonds and recycled gold and donates 50% of profits to land restoration, gemology training and medical aid in Africa. Also to try, Igloo Diamonds.

5. Bamboo Skivvies. Kinder than they sound, these men’s and women’s underwear are made from bamboo fibers and organic cotton.

6. Pair of Sheep. A pair of sheep is whimsically romantic (like the amorous atmosphere of Noah’s Arc). Give a pair of sheep to a family through Oxfam. At $45 a sheep, your $90 gift enables women to becoming self-sustaining through the sale of wool textiles.

 

7. Flowers. Not just organic, each bouquet from Organic Style is associated with a specific nonprofit. Buy a bouquet and a portion of the cost goes directly to its affiliated organization. Heifer, EarthShare, PETA, Global Giving or Amnesty International are some of the organizations that will benefit from this romantic gesture.

About olivia

Olivia Kuhn-Lloyd believes in the reach of business to effect real social change. She works with companies who are forging a new paradigm of cause capitalism and writes about the power of consumer choice at Cause+Capitalism. She managed international trade advocacy with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C., working with both foreign ambassadors and national business owners to tell their stories. She left the Chamber to spend a year in the Marshall Islands as a volunteer teacher and journalist. When she returned to the States, she worked with nonprofits and grantmakers in Los Angeles on program development, capital campaigns and executive coaching. Olivia now works with businesses to integrate social cause at a fundamental level and build community around the product or service. She lives in Santa Monica, CA.
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2 Responses to (Com)passionate Valentine’s Day Gifts

  1. lorihope February 5, 2009 at 2:32 pm #

    Thanks for these great ideas! If Valentine's Day is about love, let's make it about loving people, the planet, and our communities!

    And if the economy has you down, why not make some yummy soup or dessert, or, better yet, write a poem or make a coupon for a back or foot rub?

    Again, thanks for this, Olivia!

    Lori

    —

    Lori Hope

    Author

  2. mallika.chopra February 6, 2009 at 8:53 pm #

    Olivia

    What great ideas!!

    Mallika