For Valentines Day, I insisted that we all exchange handmade valentines or a gift that is sustainable. There is a lot of talk these days about sustainable living and its effects on our environment and quality of living. As I was perusing through my February issue of National Geographic Adventure Magazine I came across a very clear cut example of eco-responsibility. The clothing and outdoor gear brand Patagonia exudes eco-responsibility in its manufacturing and production of products. In their attempt to lessen their carbon footprint, they have begun to track the production of products and its effects.

They provided their Wool 2 Crew base layer shirt as an example. The route: wool from New Zealand - then onto the Japanese textile factory (via Malaysia) - across the Pacific to a sewing facility in Southern California - packaged in Reno, Nevada; sent on to retail stores and homes. The result: miles traveled 16,280 - pounds of carbon dioxide emitted: 47 - waste generated: 9 oz - energy consumption: 89 megajoules (equivilant to powering an average U.S. household for 20 hours). Patagonia’s verdict: Unsustainable. I bet you had no idea it took that much to make a shirt. I sure didn’t.

I’ve also been reading Living the Good Life by Linda Cockburn which is about a family who lived a complete sustainable lifestyle for six months. I sure don’t plan on going to those extremes. I can just picture it now, it would be like living on an island on Survivor. We would stink, starve and lose 50 pounds (which might not be so bad). It does make me think about what I buy, where it’s coming from and what all it had to go through to get to me. I’m actually pretty dumbfounded by the concept.

So for Valentines day, I told Miles that we had to try to make our gifts sustainable or handmade. We both had plants on the brain but neither of us knew it. I took the kids to the Natural Gardner and I let them pick out succulents to create a small succulent garden for daddy. We got home, played in the dirt and created our garden.

My gift from Miles was this holly bush - I just love the red berries! He also made a donation to the Miracle Foundation. The Miracle Foundation empowers children to reach their full potential. First, by working collaboratively to empower families living in poverty to keep, feed, and educate their children. Second, by partnering and supporting existing orphanages to upgrade them to a global model. Third, by building family-style orphanages to provide children with personalized attention. For every donation you make, two trees are donated to orphans in India. I’ll take that kind of gift any day!

All in all, I have been more thoughtful to the gifts I give, gifts I receive and things I buy on a daily basis. Things haven’t changed dramatically around here but my awareness has and that has an impact on my babes. And that is the one thing we are responsible for right?!?