Sustainability is increasingly becoming a factor and consideration for many of us, both as individuals and as businesses.
In our line of work, we know only too well that the flower industry uses significant energy resources for growing and transportation which is far from ideal. But, it does sustain economies and communities around the world and sustainability is about more than simply the environment.
Sustainability for us is about making small changes in our working practices to:
1) help look after the environment
2) support our economy
3) sustain our livelihoods
To run our business sustainably is a process and like many others we’re on the journey and it’s a long one, but we’re continually adapting the ways we work to support this overall aim.
Here’s some of the things we are doing:
- SINGLE USE PLASTIC & FLORAL FOAM
We've eliminated single use plastic in our business. Most notably, we're 100% floral foam free (plastic based green coloured Oasis blocks). This plastic based floral support material (still widely used by florists throughout the world), does not decompose, enters the water system, sheds a fine dust in use (particularly harmful for florists) and most ends up in landfill. We use a little biodegradable basalt-based organic alternative for some wedding and funeral work. We occasionally use plastic trays and pots and if we do these are re-used numerous times. We use wood, cardboard and bamboo-based alternatives eg as card holders and trays for flowers instead of plastic.
- LOCALLY GROWN FLOWERS
During the growing season, from mid-April to early October we buy as much locally grown and British grown flowers as possible. The UK flower growing industry is not producing (currently) in the quantities required by UK retail suppliers like us to satisfy consumer demand, and over 80% of flowers are imported. If supply was better, we’d definitely buy more as many British grown flowers have a character, quirkiness and scent that many intensively produced Dutch supplied flowers lack. It also helps to sustain the local economy and the livelihoods of local grower farmers.
- BUYING BRITISH PRODUCTS
We prioritise British made and designed product lines and brands in our buying process. And we champion smaller, British artisanal makers and have done pretty much from our beginning 8 years ago. This provides unique things and heirloom items that mass produced alternatives rarely match in terms of interest and quality.
- PACKAGING
Our work has minimal packaging…do many people still want a bouquet of folded paper, metallic and plastic film? The little that we do use for our bouquets and vases of flowers is recycled and recyclable, only the small square of cellophane used for water bubbles in our bouquets cannot be recycled currently. We are always exploring more environmentally friendly alternatives for these and debating if what we actually use is required. We always use beautiful satin and grosgrain ribbons which can be reused by recipients numerous times.
- RESPONSIBLE TRADE WASTE MANAGEMENT
We recycle and compost as much of our trade waste as possible using a reliable, trustworthy local contractor.
- NO TO FAKE FLOWERS
We don’t use fake flowers or foliage - they may last longer than fresh, and in theory can be re-used but it’s usually plastic based, gets dirty, dusty and discoloured fairly quickly and so ultimately doesn’t get reused and ends up in landfill. And it's just not very pretty!
TRANSPORTATION POLICIES
- Our delivery service is restricted to our local area only now, we no longer ship our flowers and homewares nationwide. And for several years now, our delivery service has been outsourced to a trusted local courier, rather than us running our own van half empty much of the time or being too busy in the shop to actually do the deliveries so the van sits parked up and the courier is called anyway! Using couriers, where their journeys carry multiple items, with full vans on a given route makes sense.
Our wholesale suppliers use sea and road, rather than air, to transport goods.
We certainly have a way to go and are always open to new ideas and ways of working more sustainably. So if you do have any suggestions or ideas to help us, or have any questions on our practices, please do contact us via the Contact Form here.
