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2023 Cool Eco-Friendly Valentine's Day Gift Ideas For Travel Lovers

Think outside the box this St. Valentine’s Day in choosing an eco-friendly, ethical gift to let your travel-loving The One, and the Mother Earth, know that you love them in an eco-conscious sustainable way.

Valentine’s Day is the time we express our love to someone we care about. If you happen to be in love with a person who cares deeply for the environment, most traditional St. Valentine's Day gifts, such as bouquets of flowers, paper love-cards, chocolate boxes, and gifts wrapped in plastic, might actually upset your significant other a great deal. In the age of climate change and global pollution crisis, it might be a good idea to start thinking outside of the box. Below are some gift ideas and recommendations on how you can let your significant other, and the Mother Earth, know that you love them in an eco-friendly sustainable way. We, of course, focus our gift ideas towards Valentines who enjoy travel. You'll also find some recommendations on choosing an ethical gift for your loved one.

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What Gifts NOT to Give

Before we dive into eco-friendly gift ideas and recommendations, let’s get clear on what to avoid. 

Pretty much anything that is a single-use (especially single-use plastic), anything that would perish within a week or two, is non-recyclable or goes directly into the landfill right after the big day – is a bad-bad-bad idea. As such, physical paper cards, plastic cards, plastic balloons, excessive wrapping, and cut [read “dying”] flowers are some of the things that might make your eco-conscious loved one quite upset.  

Instead of traditional mostly disposable gifts, try to find something that will be useful and serve a long term purpose. Your loved one will much appreciate eco-friendly sustainability-oriented choices. 

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Cut Flowers

Although traditionally cut flower bouquet is what everyone is used to giving for St. Valentine's day, believe it or not, your eco-conscious significant other would rather avoid getting those.

Cut flowers are often grown in greenhouses, using non-eco friendly methods including wide use of pesticides and chemicals to make them look uniform or a certain color. Some flowers are imported from other countries from thousands of miles away via cargo planes and refrigerated trucks – not good at all for the global carbon emissions impact. 

A flower that's cut = dying flower. Do I want to have a beautiful creature dying in my home in front of my very eyes, only to make its way to the trash after a few days of agony? Definitely NO.

BETTER: Potted Flowers

If you or your significant other likes flowers, a great way to make them happy is to buy a beautiful flower pot with live flowers. Even better: buy seeds and plant them together on the St. Valentine's Day as a couple and watch them grow like your love!

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Jewelry

Metal mining destroys landscapes, sometimes entire ecosystems and produces toxic waste. Irresponsible diamond and precious stones mining can cause soil erosion and deforestation, and in many cases can be full of exploitation and violence…  

Luckily there are now companies and brands that source their materials ethically and, as a result, will help you in making a perfect choice for an eco-friendly St. Valentine’s Day gift for your loved one. …and most importantly an ETHICAL gift.

If you are looking for high-end jewelry, a large selection of beautiful, conflict-free diamonds and recycled precious metals (wrapped in eco-friendly packaging) can be found at online sites like Brilliant Earth. 

Sites like Novica and Ten Thousand Villages offer eco-friendly jewelry pieces from artisans from around the world at fairtrade arrangements. 

Find out more about ethical jewelry: 10 Sustainable & Ethical Jewelry Brands

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Looking for a great St. Valentines Gift for HIM? Check out our post: Unique Jewellery Gifts for Men who love the Outdoors

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Eco-Friendly Gifts For Someone Who Loves Travel 

Below we’ve listed some of the amazing items you can gift for St. Valentine's Day to someone who loves to travel. 

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Travel Mugs & Water Bottles

Travel mug, a thermos or a water bottle are amongst perfect choices for an eco-friendly St. Valentine’s gift: a day-to-day item that will remind your loved one about you each time they have that tea or a coffee! You can choose from a hundred beautiful occasion-appropriate designs. You can even find a place that would engrave the mug for you with your love message. No card necessary!

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Travel Scarves & Neck Warmers

Another fantastic gift is a travel scarf. Some travel scarves come with a little secret pocket for storing money, documents, earplugs, headphones, keys, etc. The best part: you can use the scarf instead of gift packaging – just wrap a box of chocolates in it! 

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Key Chain Ornaments

Another day-to-day item that can be reminding your significant other of your love is the key chain ornaments. Engrave a heart-shaped ornament with your love message or with your name, and here you have a perfect little eco-friendly and useful gift. Travel gift and a love card all in one place!

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Luggage Tags, Padlocks & Purse Holders

Other travel accessories such as luggage tags, heart-shaped padlocks, and purse holders, can be made into a quite romantic St. Valentine's Day eco-friendly gift too!

TIP: Set the padlock combination to the date you've met, and he will never forget your anniversary!

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Luggage & Luggage Covers

If your loved one is on the road a lot, you can show your love with a bright and colorful luggage piece or a love-themed luggage cover! Your significant other will surely think of you every time when on the road and away from you by simply looking at their bag.

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Backpacks, Totes & Purses

Similar to luggage, your significant other will surely think of you every day when packing their backpack or purse for work, or go shopping with the eco-friendly reusable love-themed tote!

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Laptop Bags, Valets, Organizers

Wouldn’t you want to help your loved ones stay organized on the road and keep their devices safe? Laptop bags, organizers and valets are an amazing travel gift and an absolutely perfect eco-friendly St. Valentine’s gift that communicates love and care.

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Love-Themed Umbrellas

More travel gift ideas? Keep your loved one dry in the rainy weather when visiting Vancouver or London by gifting them a love-themed umbrella that is bright and stands out from the crowd! 

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Gift Wrapping

My final notes are about eco-friendly gift wrapping.

Best not to use any wrapping at all when preparing your eco-friendly gift for St. Valentine's Day. 

If you absolutely have to use wrapping, stick to minimum wrapping made from natural or recycled materials. Stay away from plastic gift wrap, plastic bows, and ribbons, anything non-recyclable or made of harmful materials. Be both environmentally aware and ethical in both: your gift selection and presentation.

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Do you have any other eco-friendly gift ideas for people who like to travel? Are you a sustainability-oriented brand that offers ethical gifts and would like us to feature you? Work with us!

Looking for other eco-focused gift ideas, for other occasions maybe? What can be a better gift than a book?! Check out our post about children's books on environment available on Amazon: Top Children’s Books On Environment: Teach Kids to Reduce, Reuse & Recycle.

Also, check out our Outdoor & Travel Gear website section for reviews of recent products, that could hopefully spark some travel gift ideas!

Enjoy!

Cheerfully yours,

Alexandra, Alex & Cosmos

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