Our thinking

Blooming sustainable

17 March, 2023

This Sunday marks Mother’s Day here in the UK, the second most important day of the year for the floral industry (pipped to the post by Valentine’s Day). But have you ever considered the impact of the flowers you buy? From artificial cultivation of all varieties of blooms all year round, to the transport of these flowers across the globe and the packaging in which they are sold, the cut flower industry has a significant impact on the planet.

Many of the bouquets you’ll find on the high street are grown in industrial greenhouses overseas, using large amounts of water, energy, pesticides and fertilisers, before being flown thousands of miles in refrigerated holds. The carbon footprint of imported flowers can be up to 10 times that of a homegrown bunch. But domestically grown flowers are often no better if not grown seasonally and sustainably, requiring even more artificial light, heating and nutrients to grow out of season or out of their natural climate.

So in the spirit of B Corp month, our first shoutout goes to Petalon, currently the only B Corp certified floristry service in Europe, offering seasonal bouquets delivered in carbon neutral transport and biodegradable hessian packaging. While currently still importing some flowers to keep up with demand, the team behind Petalon are beginning to offer beautiful British blooms grown on their own regenerative flower farm in Cornwall, aiming to create a circular system that gives more to the environment than it takes.

For low impact options beyond the B Corp community, we love the sustainably sourced and certified carbon neutral bouquets from Freddie’s Flowers, which carefully selects its growers and buys British as much as possible. Or you could even cut out the middleman and get your bouquets direct from the source; find your local grower here.

So, whoever you’re buying flowers for this Mother’s Day and beyond, consider where your blooms have come from and support a blossoming sustainable floristry industry.

By Lucy Bell