What is your love language? Despite a pandemic that has kept many at home for nearly a year, more than half of consumers plan to celebrate Valentine’s Day. According to National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics’ annual Valentine’s Day survey, consumers plan to spend an average $165 on Valentine’s Day gifts and celebrations. This represents a drop from last year’s spending, but still makes this year the second highest Valentine’s Day in terms of expected spending in the past decade. Nearly 3 in 4 respondents feel it is important to celebrate this year given the state of the pandemic.
While couples and families are reimagining how they will celebrate the holiday – this year will see a drop in the number of people going out to dinners and buying jewelry, according to the same survey – they can re-think how they show their love, too.
This Valentine’s Day, shoppers can show how much they care by focusing on gifts that are safer for their partners and the planet. And that safety starts with traceability and transparency about where textiles come from and how they are produced. Our bodies are in constant contact with some form of apparel or textile product. Between 4,000 and 8,000 individual chemicals enter factories in countless formulations, and they exit either on the products or as waste that can negatively impact the environment. OEKO-TEX® tests for harmful substances and certifies sustainable manufacturing practices to ensure products protect human health and the environment. OEKO-TEX® STANDARD 100 is one of the world's best-known labels for textiles tested for harmful substances, certifying that every component of the product from the thread to the buttons and other accessories has been rigorously tested for up to 350 toxic chemicals. To account for the environment, a OEKO-TEX® MADE IN GREEN label means a product is tested for harmful substances and comes from a facility that implements environmentally friendly production processes – from the use of chemicals to responsible handling of wastewater.
While consumers have long been conscious of the hazards associated with ingesting chemicals, they have been less concerned with the chemicals they are commonly contacting through their clothes and home goods like towels, bed linens, pajamas, and intimate apparel. But that is changing. And every purchase and choice we make about what we buy, put on our bodies, and bring into our homes is an opportunity to turn the tide.
Textiles to love this Valentine’s Day can include recycled or upcycled materials, more sustainably sourced materials, and safety-focused fabrics that have been tested for harmful chemicals.
Ensuring safety can be its own kind of love language.
