For an industry that relies on the beauty and abundance of the natural world, the floral industry’s practices have, hardly, if one is honest, always honored available resources. While the industry takes all the steps to ensure its eco-friendliness as it thrives, it, on the other hand, also faces a growing challenge with sustainability concerns. Thus, as consumers become more conscious of the environmental impacts of the industry, the demand for eco-friendly floral practices and arrangements is on the rise.
Basically, in recent years, the importance of sustainability has become increasingly apparent, as the world grapples with the effects of climate change and environmental degradation. As a result, many industries have begun to adopt more sustainable practices, to reduce their adverse impacts on the environment. Thus, with that in mind, here's a guide that seeks to empower florists to embrace sustainable practices, from sourcing flowers responsibly to minimizing waste when creating their arrangements.
The Tide is Turning in Floriculture
The tide is turning and floriculture is thinking more and more attentively about the ways its practices have harmed the environment and the ways it can be ameliorated. It’s an exciting turning point.
Photo by @sustainablechurchflowers
As with all things floral, the industry can maximize the value of flower actions toward sustainable floristry by considering the entire life cycle of the flowers used.
Carbon Footprints
80% of the flowers sold in American shops are imported from countries far away from the U.S., from countries like the Netherlands, Colombia, Ecuador, and Kenya. That’s a big carbon footprint just for transport (like 360,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions for a single holiday).
Photo by Ioana Motoc
The bigger carbon footprint, though, often comes from the growing and production of the flowers themselves. Take into consideration the hothouse conditions that must be maintained in a country like the Netherlands in order for conventional cut flowers to thrive and the picture gets clearer on the basis of the resources that a single bloom requires before it finds a home to adorn.
One way to get past this is to join the slow flower movement and source seasonal, local flowers where possible. Get friendly with your neighborhood organic farmers and see what pretty things they’re growing (or might be willing to grow). Forage your greenery.
Find a plot in a community garden to grow some stock. Use heartier imported flowers that can take a higher transport temperature (like lilies or birds of paradise). The more creative one can get with the resources, around them, the more minds one can change about what kinds of botanicals can be beautiful.
Plastic and Other Waste
About 100,000 tons of plastic is produced for the floriculture industry each year, of which only about 30 tons are recycled. Plastic film, plastic pots, plastic labels, plastic packaging, floral foam – ironically, the industry is awash with artificial components.
And that’s to say nothing of the waste from flowers that die in transit or arrive damaged. If you’re a florist who’s considering stepping away from floral foam, know that there’s some research proving that flowers absorb more water when placed in water containing a floral preservative than when placed in foam. How do we minimize waste in this case?
- Compost biomass waste.
- Create more potted and reusable arrangements.
- Use less plastic.
- Go foam-free and wrap the flower creations in recyclable, compostable, or reusable materials like burlap.
- Demand that the suppliers use less plastic.
- Get vocal about changing the policies necessary to shift away from single-use plastics like cellophane wrapping. It’s worked for plastic bags and straws before, and it can work in the flower industry as well.
Pesticides
Because flowers are not consumable in the same way food is consumed, it’s easy to forget that floriculture is agriculture. Floriculture, however, uses more pesticides than almost any other industry. Pesticides are the standard in the industry and since flowers are not grown to be consumed, rules governing pesticides are more relaxed than they are for food products.
Consider, too, that the globalization of the flower industry has not been accompanied by a worldwide agreement on the types of pesticides that are permissible. Growers in countries like Ethiopia and Kenya, two of the world’s leading producers of flowers, often use DDT and methyl bromide – pesticides that multiple countries have banned and that the World Health Organization (WHO) considers harmful.
The not-very-straightforward solution to the issue of pesticides, of course, is to go organic. The organic flower industry is growing but is not without its complications, the biggest of which is that the word 'organic' is a term that’s been defined rather loosely. One should, therefore, check for 'organic' certifications from suppliers but understand that each system will have its own standards, targets, requirements, and compliance assessment strategies.
Feature image by @wellingtonflorist, header image by Amina Filkins
