18 Sustainable Valentine’s Day Gifts for Every Kind of Love
Calling all the lovers who still write their crush’s name on their notebooks with little hearts – get in formation, because the month of love is here! It’s time to unapologetically listen to love songs, write poetry, stock up on heart-shaped chocolates, and send x’s and o’s to all of your besties. As a community, we have evolved beyond the dull assumption that Valentine's Day is only for the cuffed and the partnered. This year, we are celebrating not only all things Valentine’s, but also Pal-entine’s, because there are simply no limits on celebrating love. Valentine’s Day is often criticized for being a holiday fueled by capitalist consumption. Of course, as sustainable baddies, we’re not in the arena of encouraging thoughtless spending, so to help you show your love the Susty Baddie way, we came up with a guide to conscious gifting for the different types of valentines in your life. We want your Valentine's Day to look more like this: ❣️🍷🧺🌹🍰 and way less like this: 💰🤑🛍 😭 💸. And if your (or your lover’s) love language isn’t gifts, stay tuned this February for alternate ways to celebrate the day of love!
For the Romantic Baddies: This Valentine wants a night to remember. Whether it’s your bestie or your bb, we all know someone whose Valentine's Day mood is more crimson than pastel pink. This list is for your loved one (likely a Scorpio or a Taurus) who wants to be wined and dined and treated like an absolute queen.
1. Zafa Wines - All romantic baddies love a night of sweet sippin’ with the one (or ones) they love. Treat them to a delicious bottle of sustainable wine from Zafa Wines. Zafa is a Black woman-owned wine brand that makes its bottles in small batches, prioritizes ethically farmed grapes, and is pesticide and herbicide-free.
2. Tart Vinegar - If your boo is not the wine type (or maybe not the alcohol type!), treat them to a unique and adventurous cocktail night. We love to use Tart vinegar, a small-batch raw vinegar brand made in a small factory in Brooklyn, for coming up with creative concoctions. We are dreaming of the Lavender Vinegar over here.
3. Local Flowers - This might come as a surprise, but the flower industry produces a lot of harmful chemicals and uses a lot of excess water, making it a harmful industry to our environment. Because flowers are a huge part of Valentine's Day traditions (especially the more romantic kind), we encourage you to shop local for all your flowers! Hit up the farmers market the weekend before Valentine's Day, and we promise they will stay fresh until Tuesday. If you’re worried, you can also snag dried flowers at many markets too!
4. Brite Things - Jewellery is a must for Valentine’s Day, but a true romantic is going to want something especially unique and one-of-a-kind. We are huge stans of Brite Things, a small woman-owned business making unique jewelry to order. Brite Things also make tons of heart-shaped pieces that are perfect for this holiday!
5. Conexión Chocolates - Romantic baddies love to share a bar of rich, decadent chocolate on V-day. We have a lot of favorite chocolate brands, but finding sustainable and ethically-made chocolate can be hard to come by these days. Conexion Chocolates is a Latina-owned chocolate brand that is ethically produced, sustainable, and very transparent. You can snag some of their chocolate bars or mixes online for your own V-day baking endeavors or as a treat for your valentine.
6. Sustainable Sexy Recs - Many sustainable baddies like to get into our sexy side this time of year too! Check out our guide to sustainable sex products for your romantic Valentine’s evening.
For the Cozy, Cutesy, Baddies: For some, Valentine’s Day is a perfect excuse to stay in and put your comfy clothes on for a cute night with your love. For those baddies who are looking to celebrate a cozy V-Day indoors, we have some especially soft gift ideas for you and your boo.
7. The Sill - If flowers aren’t hitting this year, we recommend getting some greenery that lasts a little longer. Buy your bestie or your babe a plant that can keep their apartment looking fresh, and remind you both of your love. Buy your plants locally or shop from The Sill, a Filipina-owned houseplant company that offers plant deliveries and makes a line of faux plants using minimal plastic waste and includes a recycling program.
8. Brooklyn Candle Company & Luz Tierra - No sweet and tender night at home is complete without a little mood lighting. There are so many amazing candle brands out in the world, but two of our favs are: Brooklyn Candle Company, a company using 100% soy wax, cotton wicks, reusable materials, and low-waste packaging; and Luz Tierra, a Latina-owned candle brand making vegan, hand-poured, and 100% soy wax candles.
9. Detroit Rose - no cozy date night at home is complete without some amazing skincare products. Treat yourself, your cutie, or your pals to a night of pampering with Detroit Rose’s natural, small batch, and slowly produced skincare products. They also make incredible hand-poured soy wax candles, all locally in Detroit.
10. Susty Lingerie - Finish off your cozy Valentine’s Day evening or Palentine’s party with some susty lingerie. We already made you a complete susty guide to some of our favorite brands for comfy and cute lingerie.
For the More Underground Scene Baddies: Valentine’s Day isn’t for everyone (after all, it does overlap with Aquarius szn), so if you have a lover or friend of the V-Day anarchist variety, never fear, you can still treat them to a Valentine’s gift. Those anti-mainstream baddies might not get excited over a gift covered in hearts, but there are tons of other susty ways to say “I love you”!
11. Utility Objects - Aleisha DuChateau, a Black ceramicist from Georgia, is whipping up gorgeous ceramics that will please everyone on your list. All of her pieces are handmade and one-of-a-kind, and she has an entire collection that uses recycled clay fragments. All of DuChateau’s works say “Be my valentine”, but in a cool way.
12. Books - Baddies love a good book, and gifting books is always a great way to show someone you care about them. There are few feelings that match the rush of someone reading something and saying, “hey this made me think of you!” Buying used books or circulating books you have already read is super susty, but shopping local is another way to go. We have tons of fav local shops like Mil Mundos, Mast Books, and Cafe Con Libros.
13. Playlists - There is no love letter quite like a well-curated playlist, and it’s also completely zero-waste. Make your cutie a perfectly organized playlist that tells them how you feel about them through someone else's perfectly-picked sounds and words. If your baddie is extra underground, you could go above and beyond and burn them a CD or even make an old-school mixtape, if they’re into that.
14. Wonky Ware - We love ceramics so much, we couldn’t resist recommending another of our favorite ceramic artists. Claire Resnick, a former Brooklyn-ite now based in Philly, whips up aptly-titled pieces, perfect for your eccentric valentine. Her work is handmade, painted, and pinched to perfection.
For the Mushy Gushy Baddies: These are the sentimental girlies, the softies, the ones who secretly (or not-so-secretly) just want to live the ending scene of their favorite rom-com. We can’t all recreate the movies, but for the next best thing, here are a few of our favorite sugary-sweet items.
15. Lugustas Lucious - The Mushy Gushy girlies love an assortment of chocolates first thing in the morning on February 14th. Gift your valentine a box from Lugustas Lucious, a vegan and ethically-sourced artisanal chocolate brand. They make tons of different chocolates, and you can shop their Valentine’s specific sets online now.
16. Renewal Mill - There is no labor of love quite like baking your sweetie something delicious. Anything you make at home is going to be more sustainable than buying a premade treat, but if you want to be extra susty this holiday (and cut a couple corners too), we recommend buying Renewal Mill’s amazing zero-waste baking mixes. Renewal Mill uses byproducts from things like nut-milk to make gluten free flours for their mixes. All of them are vegan-friendly too!
17. Vianney Harelly - Valentine’s Day always brings forward memories of making handmade cards in art class. Level up your stationery game and give your love a Vianney Harelly card, print, or poetry book. Harelly’s work is completely original and distinctively adorned in romantic elements.
18. Cute Root biodegradable cards - If you’re the kind to give V-Day gifts to everyone you know, these Cute Root cards are perfect for finding a sweet note for everyone. From silly puns to sweet notes, Cute Root has tons of options for every type of valentine. Don’t forget to tell your giftee to add some water to your card and it will turn into seeds for planting. Then your Valentine’s gift will live on as a sweet plant to be loved by all!
Valentine’s Day gets a bad rap sometimes, but sustainable baddies are reclaiming the holiday in the name of love! There are so many beautiful ways to love and be loved, and we hope that baddies everywhere get to celebrate their community this Valentine’s Day. Whether you are giving gifts or just giving kisses and hugs, we hope that you feel loved. If you’re feeling a little down, remember that we are rooting for you. Nothing can stop you from showing yourself some TLC this February! Happy V-Day, bestie!