5 Ways to Show Your Love Without Funding a War

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No Pressure...

Valentine’s Day is fast approaching and whether you love the showy display of affection, or loathe it with every fiber of your being, chances are you’re going to have to do something to celebrate your love—and you’re going to have to make it good.

But if you’d rather stay away from the ethical complications of some traditional Valentine’s Day gifts—like diamonds, which most likely came from the bloody battlefield of an overseas political insurgency—there are still options for you. Sustainable, ethically-sourced gifts can be just as festive as their traditional counterparts, but they’re blessedly free from the hangover of guilt.

What follows are the best ethically sound Valentine’s Day gift ideas, none of which will fund a war, promote slavery, poison the environment, or otherwise sully your love with the rank odor of social injustice.

(Photo: Kristian Sekulic/Getty Images)

Flowers

Roses are pretty much a given on Valentine’s Day, so if you’re going to go that route, go organic. Organic Bouquet offers sustainably grown flowers in biodegradable packaging. The company also partners with organizations like Fair Trade and the Rainforest Alliance to bring jobs to communities in need.

(Photo: Stephanie Deissner/Getty Images)

Chocolate

No Valentine’s Day celebration is complete without chocolate. But mass-marketed brands like Hershey often source their cocoa from farmers who use child labor. Put down the Hershey’s Kisses and instead look for brands that are Certified Fair Trade. One in particular is Theo Chocolate in Washington state. The company takes online orders and sells through a national network of local retailers.

(Photo: KidStock/Getty Images)

Personal Luxury

Decadent soaps and personal care products are a Valentine’s Day mainstay, but many still utilize animal testing and include chemicals that aren’t great for the environment. Lush is the holy grail for anyone looking for organic, cruelty-free, homemade soaps and lotions that are so decadent, they still feel like high-end department store buys.

(Photo: Hybrid Images/Getty Images)

Wine

Who doesn’t love a bottle of wine? CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture) are best known for delivering fresh vegetables to your door, but there are also wine CSAs, which allow subscribers to buy into a harvest. If you and your partner are regular wine drinkers, a wine CSA can be surprisingly cheaper than buying bottles of organic wine individually. But more importantly, those who buy in get to support a locally sourced, sustainable business that relies on seasonal harvests and can produce a surprisingly wide range of varietals. Searching for a local one is as easy as going online.

(Photo: Jill Chen/Getty Images)

Jewelry

So you’re pulling out the big guns and going with jewelry. It’s quite a statement. If you want to keep it simple and affordable, Fair Indigo uses organic materials and is Certified Fair Trade. Or you can brandish the serious “spend the rest of your life with me” artillery and go with Brilliant Earth, one of the only reliable sources of diamond jewelry that mines from Canada, where labor and environmental standards are high.

(Photo: Jessica Gwozdz/Getty Images)

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Ignorance is dangerous. Millions of people throughout history fought–even lost their lives–for our civil liberties and yet too many of us take these rights for granted.

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Ignorance is dangerous. Millions of people throughout history fought–even lost their lives–for our civil liberties and yet too many of us take these rights for granted.

It’s too easy to take away rights when we don’t know they’re gone. Educated citizens are the best defense against government censorship and suvelliance.

Honor the legacy of these activists and become an informed citizen by taking the pledge and educating yourself about your rights.

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Read the Bill of Rights! Sounds simple but when was the last time you looked at this corner stone of American politics?
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Thank you for pledging to become an informed citizen! You've pledged to do the following:

Read the Bill of Rights! Sounds simple but when was the last time you looked at this corner stone of American politics?
Know your history! Millions of men and women worked hard to protect the freedom you enjoy today. Learn more about important figures and their contribution to history.
Become an advocate! Inspired by what you learned? Why not take action! See how organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union, Southern Poverty Law Center, and the Center for Constitutional Rights are advocating for your rights and the rights of others.

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A Bay Area native, Andri Antoniades previously worked as a fashion industry journalist and medical writer. In addition to reporting the weekend news on TakePart, she volunteers as a webeditor for locally-based nonprofits and works as a freelance feature writer for TimeOutLA.com. Email Andri | @andritweets | TakePart.com