Avoid the cut flowers

TerraPass | February 10, 2009

An easy way to cut your footprint this Valentine’s Day

If you can possibly get away with it, avoid buying and giving cut flowers — unless they’re from your own garden. If you can’t get away with it, look for locally grown flowers that are in season. This almost certainly means no roses.

How this helps

There’s plenty to love about cut flowers, but the story behind the dozen roses is often far from pretty. Heated greenhouses, pesticides and transportation often contribute to the heavy environmental footprint of the Valentine’s Day bouquet.

More information

Salon’s Ask Pablo investigates the footprint of cut flowers .
A Valentine’s Day guide for Enviromantics from the Guardian (UK)

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Comments

1. By Monty on February 11, 2009 7:17 AM

A Valentine's Day without roses? The things we do to save the planet. Can't wait to see the reaction when you tell folks to purchase only free-range chicken eggs for Easter. :)

Reply
A reply to Monty's comment
by Katie on February 11, 2009 9:36 AM

Or better yet--no eggs at all! Eggs are terrible to the environment... tons of noxious gases (if you've ever gone by a chicken coop, no matter the size, it's not pleasant), huge pollution from growing and transporting feed, huge transportation pollution for the first egg to the hatchery, the chick to nursery, the pullet to the hen house, to then every egg that chicken lays until 2 years later, she goes to slaughter...and then think of all the water pollution from the waste. Granted yes, local free range is the best you can get besides homegrown, but it all adds up to a huge footprint! This Easter, try no eggs! :-D Too bad chocolate isn't local... :-(

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3. By Dave on February 11, 2009 10:07 AM

Here are some positive suggestions.

Make a nice meal for your special one. Bonus: use something exotic that you picked yourself and kept fresh frozen (e.g. blueberries or strawberries).

Make a card with a sincere heartfelt sentiment expressed (instead of buying off the shelf manufactured pablum). Put your heart into it.

Feb 14 is over-rated, it's what you do the other 364 days a year that really express true love.

Call me a hopeless sustainable romantic. Feb 14 too shall pass.

Reply
4. By Kelly on February 12, 2009 1:30 PM

Dave, Marry Me.

Reply
5. By Amy Jussel on February 17, 2009 10:56 AM

I agree with Kelly (yah, about Dave, too!) ;-)

I just wrote about TerraPass and the 'climate change chocolate' local issue in this 'how now green cow' e-card post here: http://blog.shapingyouth.org/?p=5026

Paul Pruett, CEO of Bloomsberry chocolate landed a comment on my blog, Shaping Youth revealing their footprint policy of manufacturing local whenever/wherever possible, so I wrote about it on Eco Child's Play here, too: http://tinyurl.com/d5j7jd

So it IS possible to think footprint while thinking romance and smooches...and best of all, that 364+ comment rules!

Reply
6. By Shaping Youth on February 17, 2009 10:59 AM

I'll also add on the footprint front that PARC forum (Palo Alto Research Center) is having an awesome CleanTech series this Thursday on

"Emissions trading and carbon finance:
Harnessing market forces to reduce greenhouse gas emissions"

Alex Rau, Ph.D.
Climate Wedge Ltd.

I'd leave a link, but I think I just triggered your spam file on that last comment, so just "Google it"

Amy Jussel
Founder/Exec. Dir.
ShapingYouth.org

Reply
A reply to Shaping Youth's comment
by Adam Stein on February 17, 2009 11:26 AM

Here's the link:

http://www.parc.com/cms/get_article.php?id=826

(And we do rescue comments that are inappropriately flagged as spam...)

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Avoid the cut flowers

An easy way to cut your footprint this Valentine’s Day

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