![\"\"](\"https:\/\/chippstree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/tumblr_lzaaz3iJ6e1qe94qto1_500.jpg\")
<\/p>\nWith another Valentine\u2019s Day come and gone, the team here at Chipps have our minds on the month of love \u2014 particularly that of the Valentine\u2019s Day card. We can\u2019t help it. As the product of trees, these paper greeting cards hold a special interest for us. And, as it turns out, the entire world, too! Along with a dozen roses, a romantic dinner, and cinnamon hearts, these little love notes are the quintessential symbols of the season.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Couples around the world exchange valentines every February 14th<\/sup> as a way to show how much they care. From small children sending their friends notes in the classroom to long-time partners in committed relationships, people of all ages send or receive one of these notes on the big day.<\/p>\n Despite living in the digital era, many of these lovebirds are still sending paper cards as opposed to electronic ones. According to Hallmark Canada, it\u2019s estimated the nation buys anywhere between 10 and 12 million<\/a> Valentine\u2019s Day cards, spending as much as $29 million each year on these messages alone.<\/p>\n But Canadians aren\u2019t the only ones to visit Hallmark before the 14th<\/sup>. Our friends in the UK send roughly 25 million notes on Valentine\u2019s Day, meanwhile our neighbours to the south of us send an amazing 145 million cards each year. On the global scale, the greeting card industry estimates 1 billion valentines are sent around the world, making the 14th<\/sup> the second biggest day to exchanges cards \u00a0\u2014 \u00a0second only to Christmas, of course.<\/p>\n It may come as a surprise to learn sending valentines is a centuries old tradition. In fact, historians believe it may be linked to a Christian cleric of the name Valentine who, in 269 BCE was imprisoned by the Roman Empire. Before his execution, he penned a letter to his lover that he signed with a simple, \u201cfrom your Valentine\u201d, unwittingly inspiring generations of romantics to come.<\/p>\n After his death, the holiday didn\u2019t necessarily take off right away. It wasn\u2019t until the 15th<\/sup> century that it became common for couples to send letters of affection to their significant others. These tokens of love were handmade until the 1800s, after which a business woman of the name of Esther Howland revolutionized the holiday. Known now as the Mother of the American Valentine, Howland is credited with commercializing mass produced paper cards. By the 1900s, her work helped make printed cards surpass handwritten notes in popularity.<\/p>\n Now it\u2019s not unusual to hear V-Day called by another name: the Hallmark holiday. And no wonder, when you consider just how many cards are bought and sent from the greeting card giant. Despite their popularity, a lot of people think the 14th<\/sup> has become too commercialized. For many people, it\u2019s the holiday they love to hate precisely because the pressure to buy is too great.<\/p>\n That doesn\u2019t mean people don\u2019t want to celebrate their relationship or shower their loved ones with gifts. It just means many loved birds are opting to ignore the typical Valentine\u2019s Day gifts, including cards. We can\u2019t help but appreciate the ecological implications of forgoing the usual symbols of the day. A recent report released by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) suggests card manufacturers are using illegal tropical hardwood<\/a> in order to make their greeting cards.<\/p>\n By skipping your annual valentine next year, you can help prevent the loss of the world\u2019s most valuable trees. Just remember to replace it with something else, so your loved one isn\u2019t disappointed! A creative, waste-free DIY Valentine\u2019s Day<\/a> is just one way you\u2019re doing your best to help our trees. DIY tree care, on the hand, isn\u2019t something we suggest. Tending to them without the appropriate training or equipment can be dangerous, so leave it us, Edmonton\u2019s favourite ISA-certified arborists<\/a>. We have the right tools and talents for the job.<\/p>\n As you take the time to celebrate your loved ones this month, remember we\u2019re always available for a date should any of the trees on your property need some TLC. We\u2019ll keep our calendars clear whatever the time of year, whether it\u2019s sometime this February or another occasion later on. Just be sure to give us a call<\/a>, and we\u2019ll make sure you trees make it to next Valentine\u2019s and beyond.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" With another Valentine\u2019s Day come and gone, the team here at Chipps have our minds on the month of love \u2014 particularly that of the Valentine\u2019s Day card. We can\u2019t help it. As the product of trees, these paper greeting cards hold a special interest for us. And, as it turns out, the entire world, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":706,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chippstree.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/703"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chippstree.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chippstree.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chippstree.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chippstree.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=703"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chippstree.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/703\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chippstree.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/706"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chippstree.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chippstree.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chippstree.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}