Many of us are now making the effort to buy more of our food locally but why should you buy locally grown flowers?
by Pipley Flowers
Doing my bit to help the environment has always been a priority to me throughout my life. One of the things I love and am proud of is that my job contributes to helping to protect our environment. Whether you are a retail or a wholesale customer these are some of the reasons why buying my flowers, or local flowers generally can help your environment:
Locally grown flowers have no air miles
Most of my customers are based within 6 miles of my flower farm in Upton Cheyney so unlike flowers which are imported there is the immediate benefit of zero air miles, making my flowers a great choice for anyone who wants to do their bit to reduce carbon emissions.
Low carbon footprint
This falls along the same lines as above but it’s also worth noting that air miles aren’t the only thing that can contribute to the carbon footprint of a flower. Many larger growers use supplementary heat and lighting. My flowers are field grown - I don’t use any additional heat or light even at germination stage so the carbon footprint is extremely low. You will find the same will be applicable to most small, local flower growers. This blog from Flowers From The Farm (I will tell you more about them in part 2) shows that an average imported bunch will have 19 times the carbon footprint of a locally grown bunch - 32kg vs 1.7kg….that’s a huge difference!
Plastic free
My flowers are always cut straight into buckets of fresh water and will be delivered to or collected by florists in their buckets; The great thing about this is that there is none of the plastic packaging that comes when you buy from a large commercial grower. Typically wholesale flowers are sold in single variety bunches of between 10 and 50 stems, and every bunch will come in a plastic wrap which is immediately disposed of once the flowers are unwrapped by the florist. I know that many florists are trying really hard right now to reduce their impact on the environment and the plastic waste is a big concern in this industry. Hopefully over time the plastic use will be reduced but in the meantime using a local grower is a great way to cut this out.
Support local businesses
An obvious benefit of buying flowers grown near you is that you are supporting a local business. I provide a floristry service myself and I supply florists who buy my flowers for weddings and shop sales. My delivery area for bouquets is fairly small but I am always happy to recommend one of my local florist customers who stock my flowers and can help with delivery in the Bristol or Bath area - when you buy flowers that way you are supporting two local businesses!
Source: Pipley Flowers