Flowers really are a delightful gift from Mother Nature. They come in a variety of shapes, colors, and sizes that floral experts turn into amazing breath-taking designs. Beautiful, natural, and fragrant, flowers also provide many health benefits, too. With the joy and surprise of getting flowers, we often don’t think what goes into getting them from the field to your home. Here at Carithers Flowers, Atlanta’s best florist, we not only take pleasure in working with and delivering gorgeous flowers to your home but take it seriously to take care of the environments so flowers can still be enjoyed by many future generations. One of the things is we do to ensure this is practice sustainable floristry.
What Is Sustainable Floristry?
Sustainable Floristry, also known as eco-friendly floristry and environmentally friendly floristry, is an effort among florists to perform eco-conscious practice in order to reduce their carbon footprint in an industry which has a big one. There are many ways florists are going about doing this. Here are just a few.
Ways in Which Florists Are Practicing Eco-Friendly Floristry
Slow Flowers
By purchasing what’s known as “slow flowers,” florists are greatly reducing their carbon footprint. Slow flowers are blooms which have been grown locally, or as close to home as possible, and in an environmentally friendly manner. This reduces the pollution caused by transporting flowers across great distances. “Slow flowers” is also a term associated with florals grown naturally outside, instead of in a green-house, many of which are not energy-efficient.
No Foam
The green floral foam that has been used by florists as a mechanic of their design for over half a century, is a one-time use piece of plastic that is very damaging to our oceans, marine life, and our own health. Refusing to use foam and replacing it with natural eco-friendly mechanics such as twigs, moss, re-usable chicken wire, and other similar items is a huge step in helping the environment.
Purchase Locally
Besides sourcing flowers from local farms, it’s also important to purchase other items locally, such as hand-made gifts, office supplies, and gift baskets. Purchasing locally not only supports small businesses but also helps the local economy.
Practice Proper Waste Management
From composting, recycling, and reducing the amount of overall waste, being conscious of every purchase and how it can be disposed of in an eco-friendly manner are small steps that add up to maintaining a healthy planet every day.
Upcycling and Reducing Plastic
Many florist shops have programs in place that allow customers to bring in their own vases to use in arrangements or offer a discount when they bring back vases from previous arrangements. Also, choosing to use newspaper or more bio-degradable packaging materials rather than plastic wrap, ties, and tags help reduce the overall plastic problem the earth is currently facing.
Repurpose Leftovers
When there is an abundance of inventory leftover, many florists come up with creative ways to use them rather than dispose of them. For example, by sending leftover stems in a lovely arrangement to hospitals, schools, or other foundations, or donating them to other non-profits and charities.
Why It Matters
We should all care about our personal choices and how they impact the environment. We all share this earth and for all of the beauty and glory it gives us, we need to not take advantage of it. Just because we cannot see the immediate effects of the overuse of plastics, pollution, and land erosion from overuse, doesn’t mean it’s not happening and won’t’ be a huge problem in the future. We owe it to our children and future generations everywhere to pass on an environmentally sustainable planet earth for them to live on so they can strive.
For additional information on our eco-friendly practices, give us a call or peruse our selection of beautiful flowers now.
