Alternet's blog has a post about conflict diamonds with some good recommendations on how to have a socially conscious Valentine's Day.

Treehugger also has a post about 50 ways to please your lover - in an eco-friendly way.

Other ways to celebrate?

Attend one of the many local productions of the Vagina Monologues. Haven't heard about it? Check out their website. The V-Day movement is all about raising money and awareness for the anti-violence-against-women movement. It is centered around performances of the Vagina Monologues at colleges (and elsewhere) all around the country, on or around Valentine's Day. (Get it? V is for Valentine's Day, and for Vagina, and for Violence.) Each college chooses a nonprofit that does anti-violence work to receive the proceeds of the events. The production at UW benefits Home Alive, "a Seattle based anti-violence non-profit organization that offers affordable self-defense classes and provides public education and awareness." There are also productions at Seattle U, SCCC, and many other colleges in the area. To find a V-Day near you: click here.

I've been to see the show almost every year since it started, in 1998, and it never gets old, because every cast has their own interpretation. And guys? It's not just for women. If you have girlfriends, wives, sisters, daughters - and we all have mothers - it's relevant to you. In fact, every year my college put on the show, and every year I talked to countless guys who went to the show and I rarely found anyone who wasn't favorably impressed.