Valentine's Day comes every year with pink cellophane, boxed chocolates, balloons and teddy bears. Unfortunately, it also comes with slave labor, animal cruelty, and heaps of shiny garbage. Ensure that your V-Day speaks only for what it was intended to--LOVE.

1) If you must buy chocolates make sure they are fair trade certified like Divine Chocolates that Zarah writes about in the Fair Trade blog. Not aware of the slavery involved in the chocolate industry? Read the Sex and Chocolate guide Amanda talks about on the End Human Trafficking blog. It would even make a great gift!

2) Don't buy into big plastic cards, ballons and teddy bears that are most likely made by unfairly paid workers in far off lands and will most definitely end up in a trash can sooner rather than later just to add to global warming. Give meaningful gifts: a book, something handmade, an orignial work of art or photo, a nature hike, or something made by survivors of trafficking. Here are some great books and gifts suggested by Amanda at the End Human Trafficking blog.

3) Go meatless for the day (or forever!). Over at the Stop Global Warming blog, Emily notes that a meatless diet is one of the top 10 ways to combat global warming. Stephanie at the Animal Rights blog also encourages a meatless diet in order to curtail world hunger, not to mention animal cruelty. Check out local vegan restaurants or cook a meal at home with local, organic, gmo-free ingredients as Natasha suggests in the Sustainable Food blog. Melt their hearts without sacrificing others. Check out some of the Divine Chocolate recipes featuring sustainable, fair trade chocolate over at the Fair Trade blog.