Just got this tip from Ideal Bite, a “light-green living” tip service that sends me a daily email. These messages are the Dakota Fanning of the green movement. Though they’re sometimes too cute for their own good, or suggesting things like not washing your dishes before you put them in the dishwasher or not preheating your oven to save .2 watts of electricity, sometimes I dig ’em.

Here’s a tip that’s apropos for those actually planning ahead for V-day: 

Who wishes you’d never opened this tip?

Your waistline. But with so many organic and fair-trade options, you can at least feel a little better about lifting the lid on that box o’ bonbons.

The Benefits

• Taste you thought existed only in Greek myths. The run-of-the-mill stuff just doesn’t hold up against our organic chocolate picks.
• Divine support for organic. Only about 3% of the U.S. food supply is grown organically, but as we vote with our dollars in favor of it, that number will climb.
• An out-of-the-box labor concept. Fair-trade wages help cocoa workers achieve self-sufficiency – fair treatment too.

Personally Speaking

We like to justify our dark chocolate addiction by pointing to its flavonoids, which have major antioxidant power and help relax blood vessels.

Wanna Try?

• CocoaVino Raspberry Fig Truffles – delicious handmade bonbons with brandy in the middle; mostly fair-trade ingredients ($24/12 bonbons).
• Vosges Truffle Gift Box – four kinds of handmade truffles, whipped up in a facility completely powered by wind and nicely packaged in a recycled-paper box ($11/4 truffles).
• Equal Exchange Espresso Bean Bar – a dark chocolate and espresso option that’s especially great for coffee addicts ($5/bar).
• Dagoba Xocolatl Bar – spicy, 74% chocolate bar, with chilies, nutmeg, vanilla, and other zingy flavors ($3/bar).
• Das Foods Fleur de Sel Caramels – if you’re more into caramel, go for these nutty, bite-size bonbons made with organic ginger and pistachios ($7/about 17 caramels).
• Green & Black’s Impulse Milk Chocolate Bar – excellent milk chocolate option that’s a bit darker than your average Hershey’s Kiss ($2/bar).