Valentine’s Day & Mardi Gras
Feb 10This week has two days that spur a celebration for dramatically different reasons. Valentine’s Day and Mardis Gras both are fun and I, of course, have found a “green” angle to each. If you are looking for ideas on how to celebrate each, here are my suggestions.
First, you don’t have to give away cut flowers to your sweetheart. Just like I don’t recommend killing a tree to celebrate Christmas, I don’t like killing flowers just for Valentine’s Day. While I have bought roses for my wife, on this special day I plan to buy her actual rose bushes for the yard. There are great varieties on sale right now at local nurseries and home improvement stores. The kids enjoy getting to help plant them each year and I am amazed at how beautiful they are during late spring and summer. A friend also says that they are great to put around windows and porches because the thorns provide a deterrent to burglars.
There are many choices on cards to give your sweetheart and I always try to find ones that are made from recycled paper. Just turn to the back of the card and look for the word “recycled”. I looked at Walgreens, Drug Warehouse, and the dollar store near my home and found about 10% of the cards were made from recycled paper. E-cards are another great option.
Are you thinking about giving chocolates? Skip the big, national brands and buy chocolates make from local chocolatiers and candy shops instead.
Mardis Gras is a fun, but often messy holiday. There is even a parade planned for downtown Tulsa this year. One of the things that always bothers me is the idea that you can throw beads and candy out of the floats like litter. Even though many of these are collected by parade-watchers, if you have ever walked around a parade route an hour later, you would have seen many broken beads and smashed pieces of candy on the ground. I’m going to be part of the parade this year in Tulsa, but we plan to walk alongside the float and hand the beads and candy out directly to parade-watchers.
I hope that you have someone to celebrate these holidays with this year and hope that you also remember that no matter what the occasion, there is probably a way to enjoy the holidays while keeping them green.
