The other day, I saw a sign advertising fair-trade roses at my local florist, Burst — I suppressed my allergies for a moment while I got all excited; but unfortunately, I soon found out they come all the way from Ecuador. A better option, as I later discovered, is online-based EcoFlora, an organic and socially responsible Toronto florist. As founder Scott Graham says, he created the company as an alternative to the mainstream florists who get most of their stock from Colombia and Ecuador.
“What’s on all those gorgeous flowers to keep them fresh?” he asks on his site. “How are the flower farm workers treated? From the flower farm to arrival at your home there are many chemical treatments that go on the flowers and into the water they drink. Working conditions for the flower farm workers in these countries are dangerous, unhealthy and exploitive.
“[There are] pesticides, herbicides and fungicides that are banned in Canada, and there can be 10 to 100 times the pesticide residues on cut flowers than on the food that is imported from these same countries because of the fact that flowers are not eaten. Some of the chemicals used include methyl bromide to ensure no there are no insects on the flowers when they reach North America.”
Scary!
But not only does EcoFlora offer safe, guilt-free flowers, they also arrange and ship them in eco-friendly packaging, whether it’s biodegradable cellophane or a ceramic vase made by a local potter, and none of their materials comes from China.
So from now on, if anyone I know is sick, depressed or getting married (or, for that matter, all of the above), they’re getting flowers from EcoFlora.
Photo courtesy of this guy on Flickr
It being summer and all, aren’t home grown flowers a better option? Or perhaps local farmer’s market flowers a good second best? I can see if I had to send flowers accross the country or in the middle of January, but not in July in the northern hemesphere for someone in the same state.
If you really want to see the wheels of the flower economy turning, I suggest the most recent issue of Foreign Policy, which looks at the global flower trade in detail. Good gravy!
I will admit that one of my guilty pleasures is buying Amy flowers. It brings a real light to my heart when she comes home and sees our martini pitcher (what we use for a vase) filled with fresh blooms “just because”. After reading about the global production and rapid shipping systems needed to supply these flowers, I guess I’ll have to find another solution. We have some gardening containers that haven’t been replanted, so we could grow some of our own, but that defeats the surprise value.
Exactly, and not everyone has a garden. You also wouldn’t want to drive across a state to take them anywhere as that defeats the purpose. The best solution is an online network of florists using local products and I suppose in the north that also means greenhouses. (hopefully with solar panels.)
Hey, my name’s Kindra Fontes-May. Someone recommended this site to me via my New Green Project blog, and I was wondering if it was cool to post a link to it from my page. The better to reach more people!
http://rrfchanges.blogspot.com/
OK, I’m sorry but those floral designs are ugly! Being ecofriendly should not mean having to sacrifice beauty. Lets find something else!!!
This is a really good point. I saw Rhett’s comment above, and recently I went and bought him some flowers, just because, from Whole Foods. I was surprised to see how many of them, like most, were shipped from huge distances. I guess I knew that going in, but I though Whole Foods might have been better about that sort of thing. Another thing we can consider are the dyes and stains that manufacturers put on roses, especially to make them funkier. I think real flowers are pretty enough