The day of love is just around the corner, but did you know that Valentine’s Day actually creates an extra nine million kilograms of CO2 thanks to the waste of this one single day? We’re all for showing love to those we care about, but we also love our planet. So this year, we want to urge you to ditch the single-use plastic and have a more sustainable, low-waste Valentine’s.
The true picture of Valentine’s Day
According to Business Waste, 40 million of us here in the UK celebrate Valentine’s Day- and we love that. Ok, so you shouldn’t need a commercial holiday to tell those around you how much you love and appreciate them, but there’s no harm in spoiling them on this day. Trouble is, we’re also spoiling the planet too.
We send 25 million Valentine’s cards, most of which are likely to be thrown away afterwards, especially the ones with glitter and other materials that can’t be recycled. Plus, many of us still aren’t recycling properly- so even if we think we’re doing the right thing, too often we’re not.
And it’s not just cards. Think of that bunch of roses wrapped in plastic, that box of chocolates with plastic-coated packaging, that synthetic teddy bear with plastic tags and other cutesy gifts that are either discarded and sent to landfill, or manufactured in less than sustainable ways. It all adds up. So much so that as a nation, and as a globe, Valentine’s Day creates an unbelievable amount of waste, contributing to the destruction of our planet every single year.
Breaking up with single-use plastic
It’s over. And it’s definitely them, not you. Here are three easy swaps you can make this Valentine’s Day:
Instead of cards: e-cards! Yes, it’s nice to give a card to that special someone on Valentine’s Day, but it’s even nicer to give our future generations a planet to grow up in.
At Christmas alone, we use an average of 300,000 tonnes of card packaging, and we expend a lot of CO2 when we post them, then transfer them to a recycling plant (if we recycle them). And according to Hallmark, the stats are no better for Valentine’s Day- we send 145 million cards each year! Imagine if we all sent an e-card instead? Or, better still, we picked up the phone or told our loved ones face-to-face what they mean to us. Priceless.
Instead of chocolates: soap! Naturally. I mean, chocolates taste nice, but they don’t last long- and so many boxes come wrapped in plastic, with little plastic trays holding the chocolates inside. Then take into consideration the extra large, heart-shaped boxes that are made especially for this (one)day of love… all that extra packaging for just a few chocolates! Now soap, on the other hand…
We’re proud of our plastic-free supply chain here at Little Soap. We use cardboard with no shrink wrap for our outer cases, and for online orders, we only ever use boxes, paper wrap, shredded/ zigzag paper and corrugated cardboard. It’s all biodegradable and recyclable. We upcycle and reuse any plastic that comes our way too.
Instead of flowers: um… soap! Don’t get us wrong, we love a gorgeous bunch of flowers as much as the next person, but we really don’t love the damage that’s done during production, nor the plastic wrap they tend to be stuffed into at this time of year. Appreciate flowers in their living, growing form when you’re out in the great outdoors, or pick a few from your own garden if you must.
And if it’s the fragrance of flowers that leaves you weak at the knees, our natural soap has got that covered too. Take our gorgeous Organic Rose Geranium bar soap, for example. Fragranced with natural essential oils, this one single bar will last infinitely longer than a bunch of flowers, will lift your mood each time you use it, and leave you literally smelling of roses too.
All of our gorgeous smelling bar soaps are fragranced with really carefully chosen blends of essential oils, to bring you not only the most amazing skincare benefits, but so that they smell really great too. All natural, all biodegradable, and a fantastic way to show someone you love them- and the planet!
So, are you ready to bite the bullet and make the change this Valentine’s Day? It’s time to be less predictable, and more thoughtful- we know that special someone will appreciate it!
