Going Green: Think about helping the planet on Valentine’s Day

Joanna Lumley .(Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)

Is there such a thing as an environmentally friendly Valentine’s Day? People tend to fall into one of two categories when it comes to Valentine’s Day.

It’s either something you celebrate a lot and go big or – like most married couples I know – it might be a bottle of wine and a take away on the sofa.

The good news is though however you choose to celebrate it, you can do it in an environmentally friendly way.

There are purchases that only really happen around February 14th that tend not to happen the rest of the year.

Help the environment buy a plant instead of red roses. Photo: Adobe

The UKs penchant for red roses for example.

The florists and supermarkets are filled with them in February whereas the rest of the year there are bright arrays of different coloured blooms that don’t have such big CO2 emissions attached to them.

Britons buy around eight million red roses in February.

That’s around 570 tonnes with many coming by airplane from Africa.

Swap meat for mixed pulses. Photo: Adobe

These contribute to a mammoth carbon dump of 32kg of carbon dioxide per bunch.

According to SSAW (Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter) Collective – a community of chefs, florists and growers, a bouquet of 15 British flowers produces only 1.7kg of carbon emissions, 95 per cent less.

But it’s not just CO2 to take into account when it comes to the iconic bright red blooms either, it takes 120 litres of water to grow 12 roses.