Valentine’s Day. One of the many days out of the entire year to show your loved ones how you feel about them. Many will give gifts such as teddy bears, roses, chocolate, and cards as a display of their love. However, what many people don’t realize is the amount of waste that results from this.
Among all the most popular gifts given on the holiday, balloons have proven to be the most wasteful. Balloons are produced with a plastic called mylar, and as a result, it takes around 450 years for balloons to fully break down and decompose. Additionally, an activity that many find fun can actually harm the environment.
Allowing balloons to float up into the air and take flight traveling to distant places can be one of the worst things for the environment. Balloons can endanger and potentially kill many animals in the environment.
“There’s a lot of candy being thrown around for small gifts, and large amounts of candy wrappers and plastic used in gift wrapping could be left around by accident,” says PPCHS freshman Ana Guardo. “Many people don’t dispose of it properly.”
Today, littering is fairly common, especially in teens, and the environment is unable to decompose the plastic as it takes from 20 to as long as 500 years to fully break down.
If consumed, animals like wild birds have a chance to choke on them or die if the material reaches their stomach. When buying balloons for your loved ones, keep in mind to dispose of them properly to help protect the environment.
Upon entering the nearest grocery store, flowers line the walls in gorgeous arrays of colors. However, the amount of harm that goes into mass-producing these roses is shocking.
First, the roses are grown in greenhouses heated by natural gasses emitting CO2. These flowers are also not grown in the United States, and they are actually imported from other countries. As a result, many fossil fuels are burned simply importing them here. Giant bouquets of roses especially, such as the million roses bouquet, contribute a large amount of carbon emissions entering the atmosphere.
Every perfect gift for Valentine’s Day can be completed with one finishing touch: a sweet card written by the person you love. However, around 180 million cards are wasted on this holiday alone, just to be thrown out into the environment after it’s over.
Alani Sookhoo, a sophomore at PPCHS, says, “The Valentine’s Day card industry is a huge contributor to pollution. It’s a huge part of deforestation [which creates] more pollution.” When trees are chopped down, CO2 levels can increase drastically as trees provide the environment with oxygen. Rises in CO2 are directly linked to global warming.
Before buying gifts for your significant other, consider the ramifications of the mass production behind Valentine’s Day. Like other consumer holidays, businesses profit off of overconsumption and overproduction, which ultimately leads to climate change.
Instead, opt for more eco-friendly gifts for your loved one, such as something homemade, a plant for them to grow, or a sweet treat. Even during a time when the world is seen as ‘doomed,’ it’s not too late to take a step forward in sustainability. Start small with Valentine’s Day.
