For Valentine's Day

So far, Justin and I have only planned two activities for this Valentine's Day: Taxes and Laundry. Which, to be fair, does mean that two things I enjoy very much, 1) filling out forms and 2) dryer sheets, will be part of the day. As I brainstorm homemade card ideas to maybe supply a little bit of romance, I also got to remembering a good article I read in Audubon's magazine about the world's rose industry.

excerpt:
"Every year Americans buy about 1.5 billion roses, almost all of them from Latin America - about 900 million from Columbia and 400 million from Ecuador. Flowers have become the third pillar of Ecuador's economy, behind oil and bananas. More than 90 percent of Ecuador's blooms are exported, primarily to the United States, and mostly for two holidays - Valentine's Day and Mother's Day."

One of my favorite quotes from my college experience is from a Cultural Anthropology class I took. "Your dollars are your decision." I think people have more power than they realize to make a difference. And learning is always the first step.