Tuesday 7 February 2012

Rainforest Alliance's 2012 Green Guide To Valentine's Day

This Valentine’s Day spoil your loved one without spoiling the planet with the Rainforest Alliance’s green guide to gifts and activities that help to protect the environment and the rights and well-being of workers around the globe.

Breakfast in bed:

Get off to a romantic start by bringing your loved one breakfast in bed. Make sure that the coffee, tea and juice has come from a Rainforest Alliance CertifiedTM farm. The little green frog on the packaging – such as on Kenco coffee, PG tips or an Innocent Smoothie – is your assurance that it was grown using methods that protect forests, soils and waterways on farms that provide decent wages, housing, education and health care to workers and their families.

Choosing a card:
Take a minute to let your loved one know how you feel by sending a romantic e-card. E-cards are environmentally friendly, saving paper, emissions and also money!

If you’re going for the paper variety, then make sure you choose a card that is made out of FSC Certified paper. John Lewis has a gorgeous range starting at £2.35. Cards made from FSC certified wood come from trees harvested in ways that protect both the land and its people.

Say it with flowers:
Roses are so last year! Send your loved one a tropical hand-tied bouquet from Interflora. This stunning bouquet comes from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms, and in amongst the mass of vibrant foliage are fiery red gingers, red loufas and even mini bananas. It really evokes the spirit of the tropics and costs £37.99.

Intimate Night-In:
Enjoy a romantic candlelit dinner at home while saving carbon emissions and saving money. When selecting the perfect bottle of wine to complement your meal, choose one that has a cork stopper, particularly if it’s certified by the Rainforest Alliance to meet the environmental and social standards of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). Mediterranean cork forests provide refuge for the Iberian lynx and other endangered species and support local farmers who sustainably harvest the cork bark without damaging the trees, leaving them standing for future generations.

End your evening with a super sweet delight -- a chocolate fondue! Indulge in this decadent dessert while supporting wildlife and workers alike by buying fruit and chocolate that carries the Rainforest Alliance Certified green frog seal. Tesco’s own brand of rich plain chocolate made with cocoa from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms is ideal for melting over bananas and strawberries!

Romantic Get-Away
If you really want to push the boat out, then why not whisk your Valentine away on a romantic trip to the Caribbean or Latin America. Visit www.SustainableTrip.org to find hotels and lodges that conserve natural resources and contribute to the well-being of local communities.

Say I love you and the environment
For those that want to do away with the traditional gifts why not present your loved one with…a rainforest! Donate to Adopt-A-Rainforest through www.rainforest-alliance.org/aar to support conservation programmes run by the Rainforest Alliance’s partner organisations in Latin America.

The Rainforest Alliance works with people whose livelihoods depend on the land, helping them transform the way they grow food, harvest wood and host travellers. From large multinational corporations to small, community-based cooperatives, businesses and consumers worldwide are involved in the Rainforest Alliance’s efforts to bring responsibly produced goods and services to a global marketplace where the demand for sustainability is growing steadily. For more information, visit www.rainforest-alliance.org.

(EDITOR: May That's Green suggest that you bookmark this page for reference later this year for selecting some very special eco-keen Christmas gifts, too?) 

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