If you’re looking for love this Valentine’s Day you may want to take a closer look at your green habits. Timberland’s 2012 Eco-Love Survey shows that if you happen to be a fella, the more green traits you possess, the more attractive you are to women. However, the survey also showed that women flip-flop about green habits.

The survey also shows that men are also more attracted to the opposite sex when they’re green-minded, but not in such a significant way. For example, a full 56% of all women surveyed said they were likely to question dating someone with anti-environmental behaviors versus only 47% of men who said the same.

Other juicy bits from this survey:

• Women hate litterers. While many women also didn’t like guys who fail to recycle or guys who leave lights on, littering was by far the biggest sin for women.

• Women are 47% more likely than men to think people who spend time volunteering for environmental causes are attractive.

• Women are 17% more likely than men to find people who practice eco-minded behaviors around the house attractive.

• Men (58%) and women (56%) both said they were more attracted to mates who enjoy spending time in nature. In fact, almost 60% of men and women said the most ideal way to meet someone was while out and about in nature.

• Both genders like mates who consider the eco-impact of their purchases, but this habit was less significant than many other green habits.

As for the perfect eco-date, here’s what folks said would be ideal (or not so ideal):

• Going on an outdoor adventure (e.g., hiking, walking in the park, etc.) 54%
• Dining at a restaurant that serves locally grown and/or organic food 31%
• Participating in projects to improve the environment (e.g., planting trees, joining nature
• conservation projects, etc.) 23%
• Volunteering to clean up a public place 21%

The oddest point of this survey, in my opinion, was that although women claim to be more attracted to eco-minded men, women were not as tolerant when it came to more extreme eco-behaviors.

Many women said if their date insisted they order environmentally responsible food options it would turn them off. 52% of women said they’d be annoyed if their date showed up on a bike vs. in a car. Women also said they weren’t fond of dates bringing reusable take-out containers or tableware to a restaurant or dates who always stop to pick up litter. Come on ladies – make up your mind!

In general, men were more tolerant of the above eco-behaviors on a date. Score for the fellas!

Do you look for eco-traits in a date – or did you before you partnered up? 

+ Timberland 2012 Eco-Love Survey (pdf)

Image by plrang via sxc.

It’s been a long, long week folks.

Free School Issues:

So, I’ve been absent once again, although for good reason this time. My son’s school, The Village Free School is facing a possible closure. It’s been a little frantic, to say the least. If Cedar’s school shuts down, Cedar’s going to be extremely upset, plus his dad and I will be back to unschooling full time which will cut into our schedules considerably. It’s a little bit of a mess.

No more school!:

Lately I’ve written a lot of posts in the anti-school series. I know some readers have liked these posts, but it may be somewhat annoying to those of you who come up here for eco-minded tips. That in mind, I’m going to keep my school rants elsewhere. I’ve moved most of the unschooling posts to a new home base – Learning Without Labels. If you did like the unschooling and Free School tips, then feel free to head over there. If not, no worries, I’ll keep the green tips rolling in right here.

The Dark Side of Chocolate:

I haven’t said much about Valentine’s Day here, mainly because we’re not THAT into it. It’s okay, but not a major holiday for us. Still, if you’d like to make smart ethical choices this Valentine’s Day, then Green American can help you out. Right now they’ve got their Dark Side of Chocolate Home Screening Kit available for purchase. At $6 this is a bargain and includes…

• 1 Dark Side of Chocolate DVD
• 1 Guide to Fair Trade
• Materials for background information
• Questions for discussion
• Valentine template to send to Hershey CEO

They’ve also got the goods on how you can send a sweet Valentine to Hershey CEO David West. The Valentine explains why you won’t be purchasing Hershey’s candies this year, or at any time, unless they make the switch to Fair Trade. Download a PDF Valentine Postcard, or design your own and send it to…

The Hershey Company
Attn: David West, CEO
100 Crystal A Drive
Hershey, PA 17003

Acorns!

Acorns are always fun, but you know what’s even more fun? ACORN OWLS! If you’re looking for the most adorable craft ever, well, you can’t beat Acorn Owls.

Yeah, I figured after the less happy news above some cute owls were in order.

Hope everyone is having an awesome week.

I just saw these Drawstring Bags over at My Bella Love’s Etsy shop and they’re so flipping swoon worthy. These tiny drawstring bags are the perfect thing for Valentine’s Day treats, birthday favor bags, and so much more. Plus of course you can reuse them over and over. AND these are totally affordable. It was hard to choose my favorite bag designs (all of them are so darn cute), so I grabbed some that I think would work well for Valentine’s Day.

Bags are handmade and sized for small items like jewelry, hair clips, candy, bridesmaid gifts, dried lavender, soaps, bath salts, gift cards, small travel items, and such. The satin ribbon drawstring is heat treated so it will not fray.

The only downside of these bags is they’re not made with eco-friendly material (i.e. such as organic cotton and such), but when it comes to reusable bags I tend to bend a little on materials. In my opinion the benefits of a reusable bag vs. say plastic bags or paper party bags outweighs material used to make the bags. For example, I’d rather see someone carry a plain cotton reusable grocery tote than use a million plastic bags.

The above said, I also get the argument for sustainable materials. If you only want treat bags made with sustainable materials check out Re-Usable Organic Cotton Printed Produce & Gift Bags.

If you like the bags above you can see all the Drawstring Bag goodness over at My Bella Love; so many cute designs you will flip! Oh and bags come in sets of two or as singles.

Little Teething Toys from the very cool Little Sapling Toys make great gifts for babies and they even have one design that’s ideal for Valentine’s Day.

All Little Teething Toys, like the Little Heart Teething Toy shown above, are perfect for teething babies to grasp and chew. Each Heart is sanded satin smooth, left unfinished and are sized safe for your baby. This cute little heart arrives ready to give in a USA made cotton drawstring bag with a tag that includes the wood used, a bit about the Little Sapling Toys family business and care instructions.

Little Sapling Toys is an awesome parent run business with plenty of eco-perks…

• Each toy purchases at Little Sapling Toys supports tree planting through Trees for the Future!
• Wood used for toys is either reclaimed or FSC Certified hardwood.
• Local beeswax and organic jojoba oil finishes are used – no toxins. Teethers are unfinished entirely.
• All paper products and packaging used is recycled and recyclable.
• Web hosting for the company is from HostPapa and powered by 100% renewable energy sources.
• The company participate in Idaho Green Power Program to offset business and personal energy usage.

Visit Little Sapling Toys to learn more and see all of their beautiful toys.

Need more baby-friendly, earth-friendly Valentine’s Day gifts? Check out my pal Peggy’s post at Tree Hugging Family.

Homemade Valentine’s Day gifts often look, well, homemade. However, there are a number of really nice gifts you can make that both look professional and keep your eco-friendly ethics in mind.

• Organic Lavender Vanilla Sugar Scrub – print out professional looking labels for the container on your computer.
• Heart Shaped Valentine Pin Cushion
• Make a neat secret hollow book for hiding secrets of all sorts – choose a nice thrift store love story for this one.
• Get fizzy with homemade bath bombs.
• Recycled Chunky Crayons – use cute Valentine’s Day metal cookie cutters for seasonal crayons.
• Heart Dream Pillow – use recycled, organic, or leftover fabric then fill your pillow with a dreamy mix of organic herbs.
• Recycle chipped antique tea cups into really cute homemade candles. Don’t use wax though, make soy candles instead; organic if possible.
• Homemade recycled sock monkey – great for the kids – use Valentine’s Day colored socks and you can even embroider tiny hearts and such on said monkey.
• Homemade Cranberry Lip Gloss – you can score tiny reusable pots for this lip gloss from wholesale cosmetic shops or a salon.
• Jeweled Votive Candleholder – add a soy candle and you’re all set.

Also see some cool homemade eco-friendly Valentine’s Day card ideas.

Your greenest choice when it comes to Valentine’s Day cards is to make cards yourself using recycled materials you have around the house already. This is a more resourceful and more fun and creative choice. However, if you’re having a party, need a massive amount of cards, or don’t keep a bunch of art materials around, you may need to buy Valentines. In this case choose green options. Some ideas for greener purchased Valentines are below…

Tiny Prints has a great selection of 100% eco-friendly recycled paper Valentine’s Day cards, such as the cute Wild Bunch card shown above. Although at Tiny Prints the paper recycled content varies so make sure that you read the small print. Cards are made with either FSC-certified paper or at least 30% post-consumer waste. You can also customize print and photos on almost all cards. Below are some of my favorite Tiny Print designs for Valentine’s Day.

• Owl Love
• Love Ribbit
• Love Chicks
• My Loves

Night Owl Paper Goods offers some of the cutest sustainable wood and recycled paper Valentines around! I like the Latte card, but then I’m a coffee freak. Many other design choices as well.

My Good Greetings – Celebrate the loveliest day of the year with a custom Valentine’s Photo Card. Your personalized Valentines Greetings will be printed eco-friendly on 95# 100% Recycled, FSC Certified, matte card stock paper with 100% recycled, white envelopes. Choose from a number of beautifully designed Valentines photo cards in hip, trendy Valentine colors. Click your favorite design to start creating your custom photo card.

• Valentine Tree Photo Card
• Valentine Flowers Photo Card

Also check out Minted. They offer their cards on fully recycled paper as well and have an adorable selection…

For Valentine’s Day you and the kids can make oodles of green-minded Valentines with recycled materials. It’s almost always better to make cards than purchase new because obviously it saves resources, but also it’s a lot more fun and it’s way more special for the recipient to get a personally made card. Note, while not all card ideas you’ll see are specifically noted as being made with recycled materials, it’s an easy fix; simply exchange any new materials for reused materials and you’re good to go.

Below are some great ideas for homemade Valentine’s Day cards…

Maybe the most adorable green Valentine idea I’ve ever seen – Two Peas In A Pot! A brilliant and sweet idea crafted by Hester Jane at Fun In The Making (an awesome green living site) with a recycled milk carton, recycled seed catalogs, and actual garden seeds. See the entire post at Fun In The Making for more images and great instructions. There are other cool Valentine’s Day ideas here too so be sure to browse around.

An adorable pop-up Valentine’s Day card made with recycled mail.

Soda Can Pull-tab Buckle Card.

Lots of great recycled Valentine ideas at Inhabitots including no-sew fortune cookies, adorable matchbox treat boxes, and more.

If you’re short on time and need a fast fix print out the adorable (and FREE!) Candy Heart Valentines (shown above) or the equally sweet Love Is All You Need printable Valentines made by Bunny Cakes. Or you can get inexpensive personalized printables from Bunny Cakes’ shop.

Hippity Hoppity Valentine Card

Family Fun has an outstanding collection of Valentine’s Day cards.

Make some – Homemade Plantable Paper! Once you make your plantable paper you can use it to make sweet, garden ready Valentines.

Extras! In case you need something cute to go with the card.

• Cardboard Tube Cupid- too cute and an excellent way to use up toilet paper tubes this winter.
• Crepe Paper Rose Bouquet
• Coffee Can Card Holder.
• If you still have any plastic bags laying around you can make a cute punch art flower garden.