Endless love

You’ve delivered the kids to Grandma’s. A centerpiece of fresh red roses graces the table, set for two. Candles are burning, and wine is chilling in the fridge. A heart-shaped box of chocolate, tied with a red satin ribbon, is hidden, waiting for its presentation. Ravel’s “Bolero” plays softly on the stereo

You’ve pulled out all the stops for your valentine.

And you’re showing the planet lots of love along the way on this special Valentine’s Day. You’ve made a vow to incorporate these changes into your life from this day forward.

Light my fire. First, you’ve decided to nix conventional wax candles made from petroleum-based paraffin in favor of beeswax and soy candles made from renewable resources. This way, you’re saving fossil fuel and reducing your Love Muffin’s exposure to carcinogens. These candles burn 90 percent cleaner and last longer than paraffin candles. The wicks are lead-free so you’re not burning a neurotoxin in your home.

(If a hundred households replaced an eight-ounce petroleum-based candle with a soy or beeswax candle, the energy saved could keep the Rockefeller Christmas tree lit 24/7 from Thanksgiving to the Fourth of July, according to “The Green Book,” a nifty little guide containing simple lifestyle changes that can have a significant environmental impact.)

Let the love grow. “I have seen roses damask’d, red and white...” wrote the great love sonneteer Shakespeare, and on Valentine’s Day, flowers mean love. But you’ve been careful to avoid the suffering hiding behind those beautiful blooms. Flower growers often endure poor working conditions and experience serious pesticide-related health problems such as impaired vision. The U.S. imports 70 percent of its flowers from countries like Columbia and Ecuador, where children of female workers have suffered from prenatal pesticide exposures that led to low birth weights and smaller head circumferences.

Since it’s February in the Upper Delaware River valley and locally grown flowers aren’t available, you’ve opted for organically grown flowers or those certified sustainably grown by the VeriFlora™ label. Along with requiring organic farming practices, VeriFlora stresses ecosystem protection, minimizing energy and packaging, and fair labor practices.

And flowers aren’t a must for a successful celebration of love. Express a floral theme with a gift bag of fragrant essential oils, potpourri and scented candles.

Sweets to the sweet. That heart-shaped box of chocolate is your paean to love, not only for your Love Muffin, but also for the health and welfare of the people who cultivate chocolate—and for the birds and the bees. As with flowers, certified organic, fair trade chocolate reduces the pesticide load on the planet; conventional cacao is second only to cotton in crops that require the most pesticides. And chocolate made from shade-grown cacao preserves rainforest habitat for all the glorious creatures that live there.

Drink to me only. There’s nothing to set the mood better than the sensual garnet light cast by wine in a long stemmed glass. You’ve chosen a bottle of wine made from organically grown grapes, produced without any chemical fertilizer, pesticide, herbicide, fungicide or growth regulator on the vines or in the soil.

Foxy lady. You anticipate (and hope!) that your Valentine’s Day evening meal will conclude with an intimate encounter with Love Muffin, so you’ve purchased some alluring lingerie made of gorgeous organic and recycled textiles. Many companies offer irresistible lingerie collections made of a mix of organic hemp and silk and recycled fabrics.

It’s about time we made conservation a lot more sexy.

- Marcia Nehemiah