The virtuous Valentine’s guide
How to be good to your sweetie - and the rest of the world - on February 14
BY Jennifer O’Connor
Illustrations by Steve Murray
No one can say for sure why Cupid teddy bears populate store shelves in February. Is it because this is when, according to one legend, a priest named Valentine was executed for defying a Roman law that forbade young men from marrying, conducting secret rites? Or because Christians didn't like so many people whooping it up for Lupercalia, a Pagan festival, and appropriated it as St. Valentine's day? Whatever its origins, last year, a Pollara survey for the Retail Council of Canada found 84 percent of Canadians intended to celebrate February 14 and to spend an average of $92.59 doing so. But before you open your wallet for some of these common prezzies, think about what you may be paying for.
Chocolate
The unsavoury In 2005, the International Labor Rights Fund (ILRF),
a Washington, D.C.,-based advocacy organization, and an Alabama civil
rights firm launched a class-action suit on behalf of children who were trafficked
from Mali to Côte d'Ivoire to work in cocoa bean production. Over 40 percent
of the world's cocoa beans are grown in Côte d'Ivoire, and Canada's cocoa
imports from there have doubled over the past five years, according to Carol
Off, author of Bitter Chocolate: Investigating the Dark Side of the World's Most
Seductive Sweet.
The alternative Fair trade-certified chocolate companies, such as Ottawa-based La Siembra Co-op (makers of Cocoa Camino products), don't use any child or forced labour. And such companies have been growing in influence - TransFair Canada, the non-profit that certifies fair trade items, is approving more than 10 times the amount of chocolate it did a few years ago.
Flowers
The not-so-rosy 
Two-thirds of flower workers in Colombia
and Ecuador (which supply the majority of flowers bought in
Canada) have pesticide-related health problems such as headaches,
rashes and asthma, according to the ILRF. Chemicals used in
production seep into underground water supplies. In addition, the
majority of the workers are women, and according to a 2005 ILRF
study, 55 percent of those working in Ecuador'ss main flower-growing
region have been sexually harassed.
The alternative Watch for the VeriFlora logo, developed by the Scientific Certification System, which establishes environmentally sound standards for goods and products. To receive the VeriFlora label, producers must meet requirements such as documenting the number and method of pesticide applications. The ILRF has asked VeriFlora to include the prohibition of sexual harassment of workers and to require protocols for complaints and sanctions.
Gold
The unprecious
According to Earthwork - a U.S. non-profit that focuses on the environmental effects of the mining industry - and Oxfam America, producing the gold needed to make one 18-karat ring creates about 18 tonnes of mine waste, including toxic heavy metals such as mercury, arsenic, selenium and lead. (The groups have also documented human rights abuses -the displacement of more than 30,000 people living in a mining area of Ghana between 1990 and 1998, for example.”associated with gold mining.)
The alternative
Payal Sampat, the international program director of Earthworks, recommends buying recycled or antique gold until the gold mining industry can be held more accountable. For a longterm solution, however, Sampat is leading the No Dirty Gold campaign, which Earthworks and Oxfam America launched in 2004 to convince retailers, manufacturers and mining companies to change their practices. Since last February, 12 major retailers (including Tiffany & Co. and Cartier) have called for reforms. “When the largest consumers send a clear signal that they want to be buying gold that is not tainted with human rights abuses and pollution, the mining industry does need to sit up.”
Sex Toys
The turn-off 
Vibrators and dildos may contain an unsavoury
assortment of chemicals, including phthalates, which are used to
soften plastic. No clinical studies have looked at exposure rates from sex
toys, but Greenpeace's Dutch office recently commissioned a report that
found phthalates constituted between 24 and 51 percent (by weight) of
seven of the eight products it studied. Di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP),
a recognized carcinogen, as well as a developmental and reproductive
toxicant, was found in five of the toys.
The alternative You can check if a sex toy contains phthalates by giving it a sniff, according to Jennifer Pritchett, co-director and cofounder of the Coalition Against Toxic Toys. Avoid anything with a plasticlike smell” or a scent that could be used to mask this odour. "If your butt plug is apple-cinnamon scent," she says, "that's a big red flag." But for a surefire bet, use toys that are made from non-porous and non-toxic materials, such as 100 percent silicone or glass products.
