Environment, Organics, Fair Trade & Recycling at Big Green Purse

10 Ways to Be a Green Valentine

Valentine’s Day is for lovers – and for people who love Nature, too! Here are a few natural ways to celebrate your special someone, with thanks to Fresh Flowers for sponsoring this post.

 Candles – Choose candles made from beeswax or soy as opposed to petroleum-based paraffin. They’ll burn cleaner and smoke less. I prefer those that are fragrance-free or scented with plant-based oils, such as essence of lavender, rose or orange blossom, rather than synthetic fragrances and perfumes that can trigger allergic reactions.

 Chocolate – Enjoy the abundance of organic, Fair Trade chocolates available, including truffles, bars, drops, powdered cocoa and even ice cream.  Look for them online, in neighborhood markets, or at specialty shoppes.

Indoor Plants Refresh Stinky Air, Make People Happy!

We spend close to 90% of our time indoors. Shouldn’t we want to be breathing the cleanest, freshest air possible?

  One way we can do so is by installing plants in the rooms where we work and live.  Gaddy's Plant Hire, a company based in Australia that specializes in renting out plants to offices and special events (and our sponsors for this post), has taken to heart the recommendations of the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to use plants for air purification.

 Though plants don’t particularly look like air filters, they are. Plants emit water vapor that helps pull contaminated air down around a plant’s roots, where it is then converted into food for the plant. The more air circulates through the roots of the plants, the more effective the plants are at reducing pollution.  As you might expect, some plants are better air purifiers than others. For example,