Cupid’s arrow may be aiming for a pink, loveable heart, but that doesn’t mean it should leave you in the red, particularly if you’re just recovering from your holiday spending of two months ago. And if you’d like to avoid consuming more unnecessary products this Valentine’s Day, I propose another unofficial holiday – along the lines of Buy Nothing Day – to protest the consumerism that seems to overtake the real meaning behind some of our holidays. Sounds heartless? Hardly.

The greeting card industry estimates that over a billion cards are exchanged on Valentine’s Day every year. Cards can be recycled, providing they’re not adorned with sparkle and glitter, but then there are the countless roses, candy, chocolates, singing telegrams, and other assorted heart and cupid shaped knick knacks and trinkets that people use to show their affection for each other. Gift-giving is wonderful, but when we start factoring in the fact that everything we buy is manufactured, then packaged and shipped, you come up with an unnecessary and negative impact on the environment. More...