Flowers might be the easiest Valentine’s Day gift to give.
But the accessibility of Valentine’s Day flowers obscure the long, complex journey they have to take from the greenhouse to your house, and the environmental costs that add up along the way.
American shoppers are expected to spend nearly $2 billion on flowers this Valentine’s Day, and almost all of them are flown in from Latin America. And in just the last two weeks, Australians have imported a staggering 10 million roses, flown an even further distance from Kenya.
These flights have important consequences for the rest of the planet. Transportation is the largest single source of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States and the third-largest source in Australia. Just over a quarter of US transportation emissions come from freight over air, land, and sea.
Once the roses land, they get loaded onto refrigerated delivery trucks that drive across the country. This refrigeration causes trucks to burn more fuel, meaning they generate 25% or more carbon emissions than their non-refrigerated counterparts.
The environmental cost of shipping flowers has inspired a recent push for sustainable, locally grown bouquets. The “Slow Flowers movement,” like the “slow food” movement, is a considered move away from large agribusiness and in support of small family farms that grow organic, in-season, local produce.
Check out the Slow Flowers’ website, which includes a directory of more than 700 growers in the United States. The movement is growing in Australia too, with suppliers like The Fresh Flower Project and Dope Florals.
There’s no better way to say “I love you” than with a low carbon footprint.
Ultimately though, flowers are just one of the many environmentally damaging things we consume every day. That’s why we wanted to put together a new course that supports more conscientious, ‘slow’ consumption in general.
Cut your carbon miles will help you find local, in-season produce, wherever (and whenever) you are, and will give you a handy pre-checkout checklist to cut your carbon miles by up to 100x when shopping online. Check it out now by scanning the QR code.
Available today! Stay tuned, we have more courses coming soon. Let us know what you’d like to see next.