{"id":281711,"date":"2010-02-05T03:00:58","date_gmt":"2010-02-05T08:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.grist.org\/article\/2010-02-04-ask-umbras-pearls-of-wisdom-on-valentines-day\/"},"modified":"2010-02-05T03:00:58","modified_gmt":"2010-02-05T08:00:58","slug":"ask-umbras-pearls-of-wisdom-on-valentines-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/281711","title":{"rendered":"Ask Umbra&#8217;s pearls of wisdom on Valentine&#8217;s Day"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\tby Umbra Fisk <\/p>\n<p>Dearest readers,<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>Sometimes when I&#8217;m down in the stacks researching answers to<br \/>your latest dilemmas, I enjoy taking a stroll down Ask Umbra archives lane. Here<br \/>are some sparkly tidbits I culled from my past advice on lessening your impact on<br \/>that sweet little romantic holiday, Valentine&#8217;s Day. Have any of your own<br \/>sustainable loving tips or stories? Let me know in the comments section below<br \/>or <a href=\"mailto:askumbra@grist.org\">shoot me an email<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Break up<br \/>with your blow-up doll.<\/strong><br \/>And that jelly vibrator, while you&#8217;re at it.<br \/>Lots of popular sex toys are made of <a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.grist.org\/article\/pvc1\">PVC<\/a>&#8212;a fancy name for vinyl (no<br \/>vinyl, that&#8217;s final)&#8212;or with plastic-softening, hormone-disrupting phthalates.<br \/>Heat and agitation from use can cause toxins to leach from the toys&#8212;not hot. <a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.grist.org\/article\/Breaking-Up-With-My-Blow-Up-Doll1\">Get the<br \/>full Ask Umbra answer<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Pull the<br \/>e-card.<\/strong><br \/> About a billion Valentine&#8217;s Day cards are<br \/>sent globally each year. Don&#8217;t let your Valentine greeting be just another<br \/>number: Save some paper (and a few bucks) by sending your snookums a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.someecards.com\/valentines-day-cards\/\">well-selected e-card<\/a> instead. <a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.grist.org\/article\/Many-Splendored-Things\">Get the<br \/>full Ask Umbra answer<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Channel<br \/>Martha Stewart.<\/strong><br \/>Eschew conventional consumption, and get a<br \/>little crafty for your Valentine. Put together some memorable photos, write a<br \/>poem, or bake a tasty <a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.grist.org\/article\/My-Vegan-Valentine\">vegan<br \/>chocolate cake<\/a>. <a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.grist.org\/article\/valentine\">Get the<br \/>full Ask Umbra answer<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sweeten the<br \/>deal.<\/strong><br \/> If traditional is your middle name, then your<br \/>parents were a little odd, no? Anyway, perhaps you&#8217;re inclined to give a more<br \/>classic V Day gift like chocolate. Because of issues like child labor, low<br \/>wages, pesticide use, and deforestation, pay careful attention when picking<br \/>sweets for your sweetie. Look for chocolate that&#8217;s both fair-trade and organic.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.grist.org\/article\/chocolate\">Get the full Ask Umbra answer<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Turn on<br \/>the green light in the bedroom.<\/strong><br \/>Set the mood in your boudoir with<br \/>sustainable <a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.grist.org\/article\/umbra-hemp\">hemp<\/a> sheets,<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.grist.org\/article\/dimmer\">dimmed lighting<\/a>, organic<br \/>massage oils, and vegan condoms. Then pop in a steamy movie&#8212;An Inconvenient Truth, perhaps?&#8212;and let<br \/>the magic begin. <a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.grist.org\/article\/eco-sex\">Get the full<br \/>Ask Umbra answer<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Lovingly,<br \/>Umbra<\/p>\n<p><strong>Related Links:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.grist.org\/article\/2010-02-08-ask-umbra-on-engagement-rings-straws-and-napkins\/\">Ask Umbra on engagement rings, straws, and napkins<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.grist.org\/article\/2010-02-01-ask-umbras-video-advice-on-making-your-own-club-soda\/\">Ask Umbra&#8217;s video advice on making your own club soda<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.grist.org\/article\/2010-01-29-ask-umbra-on-sustainable-manufacturing-jobs-sexless-fish-and-mat\/\">Ask Umbra on sustainable manufacturing jobs, sexless fish, and matches<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<br clear=\"both\" style=\"clear: both;\"\/><br \/>\n<br clear=\"both\" style=\"clear: both;\"\/><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/ads.pheedo.com\/click.phdo?s=3f02d9a21995169abff555b5081ce13c&#038;p=1\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" style=\"border: 0;\" border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/ads.pheedo.com\/img.phdo?s=3f02d9a21995169abff555b5081ce13c&#038;p=1\"\/><\/a><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" height=\"0\" width=\"0\" border=\"0\" style=\"display:none\" src=\"http:\/\/a.rfihub.com\/eus.gif?eui=2223\"\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Umbra Fisk Dearest readers, Sometimes when I&#8217;m down in the stacks researching answers toyour latest dilemmas, I enjoy taking a stroll down Ask Umbra archives lane. Hereare some sparkly tidbits I culled from my past advice on lessening your impact onthat sweet little romantic holiday, Valentine&#8217;s Day. Have any of your ownsustainable loving tips [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":765,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-281711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281711","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/765"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=281711"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281711\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=281711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=281711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=281711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}