Let’s not be elitist about Sustainability

Someone asked me if I was really that bothered with the environment when I harrumphed over some bally silly comment on social media. Oh for fiddle-dee-dee sake!!

Of course I don’t want to see the planet shrivel and die? Of course I think it’s important we stop doing things that harm it? I’m of a generation where we had milk delivered in recyclable bottles and had a bag for life long before it became a thing ... it was my granny’s!

What's more I've been writing about all things green since 1995 and, when we had a print version, were one of the first publishers in the UK to use recycled paper.  I have always supported, encouraged and helped florists consider their working practices so have hardly ignored the subject.

What I can’t and will never support is the mistruths and misunderstandings being spouted left, right and centre never mind the fact that that commercial reality has to be taken into account.

Which is why I will never bang on about ditching foam or only buying locally grown flowers. Yes I'll say "If you can avoid foam then you must" - as long as it doesn’t result in wilting designs. That is happening far too often and really gets my goat as not only is it a waste of the clients’ money but makes flowers look poor quality.

And obviously I will always say "if you can get good local flowers at a commercially viable price to make a living then you must do that too" as long as you aren’t risking your own bottom line or not covering your overhead and labour costs.

But whether it’s the side of the small independent florist who doesn’t have the client base willing or – and this is really important - able to pay the extra price for ‘going green’ or the overseas grower whose flowers provide much needed work and salaries to pay for housing, education, medical costs and put food on the table, I have and always will look at the whole picture.

You see the issues of sustainability are far greater than simply saying ditch the foam or only buy local. They are just the tip of the iceberg ... the easy targets.

To be true to the movement it has to be viewed as a whole, holistic subject that takes into account people as well as planet and done in a way that enables earning potential to sustain life as well as the earth ... all along the chain. It's known as the three pillars (People, Plant, Profit) and to think otherwise or become fixated on one thing is not only wrong but actually very very selfish and elitist

Because if we are not careful the whole 'be more green' argument has a deeply worrying downside

1: It runs the risk of simply becoming a PR exercise - a subject constantly dragged out to create interview opportunities or click bait headlines which to me is greenwashing of the worst kind. What’s more – and I am already noticing a cooling down of media interest - people will become bored of hearing about it which means that when a good breakthrough happens it may not be noticed as much.

2: Take the argument to its natural conclusion and flowers and floristry would become the preserve of the rich alone – just as it was a 100 years ago when only the upper classes could afford the luxury of buying flowers or growing them in their large houses - a form of elitism that I would find seriously offensive.

Is it really right for anyone to say that letter tributes are tacky and wrong if it is expressing a person's grief or that no-one should have the right to grab a cheap bunch of imported flowers as a pick-me-up - to some people £5 is a lot of money.

The naysayers may not like it but floral foam and imported flowers make it possible for every part of the supply chain to make a living and every consumer to enjoy the beauty and benefits of flowers ... not just the wealthy ones.

Obviously sustainability is vitally important; we have a conscious consumer that rightly demands we all pay attention and take as many steps as we can to make change. What it has to be though is balanced and not just a rant about the (perceived) bad but an acknowledgement about the good as well.

Because as Hannah Dunne shows in her special feature there is not only a lot more to it but an awful lot of good going on too ... it just maybe doesn’t have the same sensationalism of a Daily Fail headline or a quick a way of filling up social media posts.