Reducing environmental impact is on everyone’s minds, including ours. No industry is waste free however florists can do more to reduce their environmental impact. After working in many flower shops before owning my own, it was easy for me to spot a few simple ways that we can all be doing things better.

At Charmed we have NEVER used cardettes. These are the plastic sticks that hold cards. There are many other ways to attach a card, we mostly hole punch ours and then tie them on with a paper based ribbon

We do our best to avoid using floral foam. It is not biodegradable and filled with chemical that are both bad for the florist and the environment. Instead we use chicken wire, tape or just plain old skill to create our arrangements.

Packaging. This is a tough one for florists. We need to make sure our arrangements arrive to the recipient safely. Most importantly the flowers need to be covered when the temperature is below zero. We do our best to recycle boxes that vases arrive in and use them for delivery. Cellophane is used a lot in the flower industry. Few people know that cellophane is actually biodegradable.

What can you do as a customer? Here are some simple tips when ordering to make you purchase more eco-friendly.

-Order a bouquet rather than a vase arrangement. The recipient can use one of their existing vases at home or even a mason jar. Most vases eventually end up broken in a landfill or cluttering up a salvation army store.

-If you do order a vase arrangement request that it is created without the use of floral foam. This is not possible for all containers (specifically wood, basket or low dish containers).

-Ask that a cardette (card stick) is not used

-Ask for paper only wrapping. As I said before, cellophane is biodegradable but that does not mean it’s perfect. Paper will break down much faster.

-Ask for locally grown flowers. Keep in mind that in Canada, this is only possible for a short few months of the year.

-Plan to have your flowers in water soon after being picked up, that way water tubes will not be used on the ends of the flowers