Flowers have been and still are some of the most beautiful products created by nature and enjoyed immensely by humans. Then, when floral design experts get involved and start creating breath-taking gorgeous designs with flowers, we become even more enamored with flowers. Decorating our homes with them and sending them to people we love, we sometimes lose sight of what it takes to get the beautiful blooms to our nearest florist. Not-so-environmentally-friendly methods of harvesting flowers have been used in the past. Here at Billy Heroman’s Flowers, Baton Rouge’s top florist, we make it a point every day to be as eco-friendly as possible in the sourcing, growing, and selling of nature’s most beautiful specimens.

What Is Eco-Friendly Floristry

Also known as Sustainable Floristry and Environmentally Friendly Floristry, Eco-Friendly Floristry is the conscious act of utilizing practices which are not harmful to the planet, to humans, or to social classes. It’s about being mindful about a product’s entire lifecycle, from extraction to disposal, and supporting practices that are beneficial rather than harmful.

How Florists Practice Eco-Friendly Floristry

Slow Flowers

With the majority of flowers being imported from other countries, the carbon footprint from harvesting, packaging, and transporting flowers from so far away is too big. To reduce the size of the carbon footprint left from sourcing flowers, florists have begun to incorporate “slow flowers” into their inventory as much as possible. Slow flowers are those flowers which are grown locally, with fewer to no pesticides, and greatly reduced transportation costs – financially and environmentally. When flowers must be purchased from another country, then it’s important they are purchased from “Certified Sustainably Grown” farms which practice eco-friendly farming practices from using no pesticides to providing a living wage to their workers.

Avoiding Floral Foam

An invention that came about around 60 years ago and has become a staple product of florists ever since then is actually one of the worst products for the environment – floral foam. A one-time use product, floral foam is a mechanic used by floral designers to create their designs. However, floral foam contains carcinogenic compounds including carbon black and formaldehyde. It is not biodegradable but rather breaks down into a microplastic which is harmful to our oceans, marine life, and even us. Instead of floral foam, florists are using more environmentally-friendly products such as twigs, moss, reusable chick wire, and other similar products.

Additional Green Actions Florists Are Doing

1. Supporting small businesses and purchasing locally
2. Partnering with eco-friendly farms
3. Using green mechanics in our floral design
4. Waste management through reducing and recycling
5. Composting and upcycling vases
6. Reducing the use of plastic wrapping, tags, ribbons, etc.
7. Repurpose leftovers

Why It’s Important Florist Practice Eco-Friendly Floristry

It’s important for all of us to be mindful of the practices we perform every day and how they impact the environment. All of us share this beautiful planet and we want to make sure it remains viable to provide and protect for many generations to come. Join us in our fight! There are several things you can do as well to be eco-friendly such as shop locally, recycle your vases, conserve water, and reduce the use of plastic. Together, we’ll keep Mother Nature so she can continue to create the beautiful flowers we love so much.

Here at Billy Heroman’s, we use Prius vehicles for delivery, recycle and bundle all cardboard products, recycle and bundle all pallets we receive merchandise on, and more. Let’s keep it green together!