Beeswax Candles

The soft glow of candlelight is the quintessential mood enhancer, and these natural candles are the bee’s knees. Okay, technically, beeswax comes from specialized glands on a honeybee’s abdomen, but it’s definitely the good stuff.

For every 10 pounds of honey they make, bees only create one pound of wax, so beeswax candles can be expensive. But honeybees pollinate one third of all the food we eat, so it’s well worth it to support their work. Many beekeepers sell their wax as a way to earn additional income so that they can continue to nurture their bee colonies. This bee byproduct helps make beekeeping sustainable both financially and environmentally.

The flame of a beeswax candle is often “warmer” in color than paraffin candle flames, and it burns cleanly, without generating smoke or other irritants. These lovely lights also have a pleasant natural scent, and a color that can vary from creamy white to intense golden yellow depending on when the wax was harvested and how much pollen got mixed into it. Beware, though, that candles only need to contain 51 percent beeswax in order to be called beeswax candles, so make sure you know what you’re buying.

You can order 100 percent beeswax candles online through Local Harvest, a directory of local farms, farmers markets, and locally made products, or check out the site for a beekeeper or candle maker near you. Just don’t use these candles for wax play – beeswax melts at a high temperature, and can easily burn delicate skin.

Natural Fiber Sheets

Slippery satin sheets are for pimps and pornos. If you want your lover to slide into your embrace rather than right off the bed, invest in two sets of modal sheets. Why two? Made from the cellulose fibers of the beech tree, modal is softer and smoother than even the highest thread count cotton. Once you’ve slept on the beech, you’ll never want to sleep on anything else—and you’ve got to wash the sheets sometime!

Modal washes and wears well, without shrinking, pilling, or fading, which is great, because you’ll want to keep these babies for a long time. Beech wood is a renewable resource, and it can be harvested in a responsible, sustainable manner. It’s not treated with the pesticides used on cotton plants, and processing it does not require oil like synthetic fabrics such as polyester. However, because the beech fibers must be chemically reconstituted before they can be woven into textiles, modal is considered bio-based rather than natural. Its long life, even under the strenuous conditions of your mattress, still makes it a reasonable green choice.

Another fabric made from wood cellulose has also recently entered the marketplace. Called tencel, this downy cloth is processed with non-toxic, recyclable chemicals—that are a petroleum byproduct. You can find both modal and tencel at Bed Bath and Beyond for prices much lower than other fabrics of comparable softness and durability.

If nothing but all-natural will do for making the double-backed beast, consider organic cotton, bamboo, or even soy fiber bedding, some of which you can also find at Bed Bath and Beyond.

Earth-Friendly Beer and Wine

Kicking back with a cold one, or savoring a nice glass of wine while snuggling on the couch, can be a great way to relieve tension and reconnect after a hard day’s work. But though making beer only requires four simple, natural ingredients (hops, yeast, grain, and water), and making wine requires only one, neither is necessarily an efficient process. In fact, it takes up to eight gallons of water to make a single gallon of beer, and brewing leaves behind spent grain that often winds up in landfills. And getting bottles of booze to market consumes a host of additional resources.

Fortunately, green beer isn’t just for St. Patrick’s Day anymore. More and more breweries, from small local shops to internationally recognized brands, are taking strides towards more sustainable production and distribution. For a surprisingly eco-friendly brew, try MillerCoors’ beers. The company’s accomplishments include a reducing their water consumption to a 4.1 to 1 water-to-beer ratio, reusing or recycling 98% of all brewery waste, and reducing the diameter of its aluminum can ends slightly, resulting in a reduction of 10.4 million pounds of aluminum.

Organic breweries, like Otter Creek in Middlebury, VT (maker of Wolaver’s organic beer), and Peak Organic in Portland, ME, are also raising a glass to sustainable brewing techniques. They use hops and grain that have been grown without pesticides or other chemicals. Pick up a six-pack at your favorite local liquor shop. If they don’t stock any organic beers, just ask! Organic beer is a hot trend that’s not going away, and they will probably be happy to place a special order, or even add some to their standard collection.

Organic and bio-dynamic wines also abound these days. (Bio-dynamic agriculture is a step up from organic farming, treating the crops, soil, water, and animals involved in farming as one big, holistic system.) Whether you like red or white wine, from Spain or New Zealand or Californian, there’s an organic option for you. Check out The Organic Wine Company for specific vineyards and varietals, and order your favorites online. Best of all, organic wines cannot have any added sulfites, which means that your romantic encounter is less likely to end with an added hangover.

Whatever libation you choose, be sure to drink in moderation. Too much alcohol can inhibit your performance in the bedroom, and nothing’s less sexy than a partner who’s worshipping the porcelain throne instead of you.

Oils and Lotions

A sensual massage or rubdown is a classic way to relax and get in the mood. You can buy all kinds of sticky, stinky lotions and potions at the local drug store or mall outpost (and even some nice ones, though they’re harder to find), but all-natural massage oils and moisturizing creams are often easier on the senses as well as the planet.

Soy wax candles burn at a very low temperature, so you can light them, let the wax melt, and then pour it into your hands or onto your partner for a gentle, warm massage. They are often scented with natural oils, and will leave your skin supple and smooth. Start with a just a few drops—a little goes a long way, and if you use too much, you and your partner will slide apart instead of together.

Get the goods from Joy Soy Candles, or do a web search for soy massage candles and choose the size and scent that most appeals to you. For a more traditional take on massage oil that’s still chock full of natural and organic ingredients, try the pleasure butters at Good Clean Love, or one of Weleda’s body oils.

Massage is appropriate for any time of year, but lotion is most soothing on winter’s dry skin. For some serious liquid love, try Dr. Bronner’s new line of USDA-certified organic lotions. Or, for a super-decadent treat, cover your lover with organic shea butter from The Organic Shea Butter Company.