How to treat your special someone with a cleaner footprint

 

BY KYLE HOVANEC FOR GREENING OF OIL

For most of us, summer provides a little break to be spent with our friends and families and for some of you out there, your significant others as well.  This time of year can mean long days spent lounging on the beach and nights gazing at the stars with your 'hunny' beside you. 

And believe it or not, and leave it to this column to serve as a reminder, you can be eco-conscious even while on dates and when buying gifts for your special someone. After all, there’s nothing more attractive than a guy or girl who wants to preserve our environment right? It's not just the new 'it' thing to do, it should prove a deeper level of thought and concern.

Flowers are usually the most common gift given to your boyfriend or girlfriend and why not? 

They’re colorful and attractive, they smell good, and many varietals can be bought at a reasonably low cost if the time of the year is right.  However, the flowers you buy may not necessarily be the right gift choice when taking the environment into consideration.

A majority of flowers grown today contain a number of harmful pesticides, and in some places the flower picking industry has destroyed the local habitat. Kenya is a prime example. Near flower producing fields lies Lake Naivasha, which houses numerous organisms including the native flamingo.

The pesticides leak into the lake causing massive damage to the surrounding wildlife and chase away the native birds and flamingos leaving the once beautiful lake and tourist attraction a destroyed shell of its former self.

As with a number of third world industries, the people who pick the flowers also face unfair and dangerous conditions. Pickers make very little money; they work in very dangerous conditions, including warm, humid temperatures with few breaks and little access to proper medical treatment, running the risk of physical injury from tedious and constant work. 

For women it's even more dangerous. 

Many women report cases of verbal abuse, sexual assault, and most often, poorer wages.  Women are often required to take pregnancy tests or show proof of sterilization in order to be hired for the job, to guarantee their ability to work long hours and for a full season.

For consumers, the flower industry is a guessing game when it comes to whether or not the bunch or bouquet purchased at your local grocer or florist encourages poor working environments, and for many,  definitely isn't worth the purchase of a few dozen roses from the corner store.

The solution?

When shopping for flowers look for organically grown ones.  Organically grown flowers do not contain any of the harmful pesticides and are not grown in such brutal working conditions. 

Organic flowers can be purchased through online vendors and also can be obtained from local farmers and plant growers as well. If real flowers aren’t quite what your date is looking for and you want to flex your artistic muscle, fake flowers are also a creative gift idea.

Think beyond the dust-collecting plants at your local diner. Fake doesn't have to mean tacky anymore.

Origami paper flowers can be constructed to resemble a variety of flowers including roses, tulips, and lilies. They can be made with wrapping paper most likely already in your home, saving you from A) entering a scrap booking store, in case it's at the top of your 'never' list, and B) purchasing new paper and therefore helping Mother Nature, yet again.

For more romantic gifts green is still a viable alternative. 

Bamboo is a material used in many personal items from breakfast trays and bath caddies to bathrobes and eye pillows. Bamboo plants are also known for being 'lucky', need little care other than water, and provide a pleasant, zen-like quality that can last years longer than a standard bouquet.

If you want to give a more ambitious gift, eco-friendly vacations are also available. Consider eco-tourism, as some come pre-planned and are designed to include fun, educational activities which leave little if any carbon footprint and will allow vacationers to visit varied locations such as Mexico, Bolivia, South Africa, and Ireland. Even better, if you and your significant other are college students, organizations such as Reality Tours can help college students obtain class credit for their travels.

There are plenty of green gift ideas out there your 'sweetie' will be sure to appreciate.

Not only are they creative, they reduce the encouragement of harsh working conditions, negative effects on the environment, and introduce you to an exciting adventure you might not have otherwise considered.
Hopefully these tips will earn you points with your significant other and Mother Nature too. 

Links of interest

A thorn in every rose for Kenya's flower industry

Flowers for your Valentine

Green for your brain: Why are cut flowers such an eco-demon?

Mom deserves better than flowers for Mother's day

Flowers: labor rights violations, pesticide poisoning and poverty wages

Make origami flower bouquets from recycled paper

Bamboo in the bathroom, cool spa-style gift ideas

The best affordable eco-vacations

About Kyle Hovanec

Kyle Hovanec is a junior level student attending Ball State University in Muncie Indiana. He’s majoring in magazine journalism and minoring in English.  Kyle is also the president of Ball State’s multicultural organization AASA, or Asian American Student Association and is responsible for the leadership and organization of AASA. 

Kyle has writing experience in magazine writing, news reporting, news video editing and script writing. He has experience working with his university’s newspaper, news room, and magazine as well. He has helped with several Ball State film productions by being a writer, editor, and actor.

Contact Kyle at kjhovanec@bsu.edu.