The Family Groove | The Eco Has Landed | How To Get More Green Into Your Life, Now and Forever

THE ECO HAS LANDED
ENVIRO-CONSCIOUS CRUSADER FRANCESCA OLIVIERI, CO-OWNER OF SAGE BABY IN NYC,
TELLS YOU HOW TO GET MORE GREEN INTO YOUR LIFE, NOW AND FOREVER

Green Means Go (For It) This Valentine’s Day

Eco Flowers

Ahh, Valentine’s Day. Images of red hearts, red roses and red cards pop
into my brain. Who doesn’t like receiving beautiful flowers from your
significant other or handmade cards from the kiddies? Far be it for me to knock
these touching signs of affection. But can expressing love only be done
in red? What’s an eco-smart mama to do? How can we put a little green into this traditionally red day?

The good news is that I am finding you can green anything. Think organic, fair-trade-certified dark chocolate. It’s a no-brainer. Chocolate contains high amounts of antioxidants and is supposed to be good for the heart. And when you choose organic chocolate, you are avoiding exposing your sweeties to nasty chemicals. To be super good, choose fair-trade-certified chocolates to support fairer prices for farmers in the growing process. Aren’t you feeling the love?

Organic flower stores are all over the Internet. But in this case, I am not sure that buying organic flowers grown in distant countries and then shipped to the U.S. really gets the all-mighty green shield of approval. So an even better idea is to find flowers from local growers. The Local Harvest website is a good place to start your search (www.localharvest.org/organic-flowers.jsp). However, given that February isn’t a prime growing season in most of the country, you might have to make some exceptions. You might consider going to the local farmers market and looking for a beautiful dried flower arrangement.

Eco Cards

Now, onto making Valentine’s cards. Recycled paper has become easy to find. You can buy it at Staples or local stationery stores; more exotic types of homemade papers can be found online. In fact, when I was searching the Web for recycled paper, I came across a site called The Great Elephant Poo Poo Paper Company (www.poopoopaper.com). The company uses elephant dung to make their products. The paper is beautiful. Talk about sustainability. Let nothing go to waste.

But I think the real way to green your Valentine’s Day is to embrace the fact that love doesn’t require buying something. If I buy my kids a candy bar, they are happy for a few minutes. If I buy them a little red teddy bear, they are happy for a few more minutes. But spending time with them, playing a game, baking some muffins, drawing pictures or reading a book are things that make memories and happy feelings that last a lifetime. Sappy, perhaps, but true.

So to truly have an eco-friendly Valentine’s Day, my suggestion is to return to simpler days. Make a nice dinner for your family and maybe set up a special date time for each member of the family. You get the idea. It doesn’t have to be complicated and it doesn’t have to be expensive. It’s just about being there for the people you love most—and that’s probably the best Valentine gift of all.

In 2006, Francesca Olivieri co-founded the company sage baby (www.sagebabynyc.com), an online eco-friendly baby store offering everything from organic clothes and skincare to furniture. She continues to watch her green business grow while seeking to apply her values to her own home and family. Francesca lives in New York City with her husband and three kids, 8, 6 and 3.