Progress Over Perfection, A More Honest Conversation About Sustainability
We’ve been sitting on this article for quite a while. Not because we didn’t know what to say, but because sustainability can be one of those subjects that gets people talking… sometimes passionately! It’s a bit like discussing politics. Everyone has an opinion, and there’s a good chance someone won’t agree with yours.
But perhaps that’s exactly why we should be talking about it.
As an industry, we’re constantly looking for ways to become more sustainable, and that’s something worth celebrating. From reducing floral foam and exploring new mechanics to improving farming practices and investing in better products, there are so many positive changes happening across floriculture.
Yet despite all that progress, it sometimes feels as though we’re becoming quicker to judge one another than we are to celebrate the steps being taken. And that’s a shame.
Sustainability Isn’t Black and White
Floriculture is one of the most scrutinised industries when it comes to sustainability. We regularly find ourselves defending air freight, floral foam, water use, pesticide use, and packaging. It’s a conversation we hear time and time again, yet many of the same people making those criticisms happily fill their shopping baskets with imported avocados, blueberries, or out-of-season produce without giving it a second thought.
The reality is that sustainability is rarely black and white. Every product has a footprint, every industry has its own challenges, and every business is at a different stage of its sustainability journey. The same can be said within our own floral community.
Perfection Isn’t Always Possible
Many florists proudly promote themselves as being foam-free, and many genuinely are, and that’s fantastic. But there are also occasions when floral foam is simply the safest or most practical solution for a particular installation or event.
The same goes for flowers. Buying locally is wonderful whenever it’s possible, but if you’re creating a large wedding and need hundreds of spray roses in a particular variety or colour, importing them is the only realistic option.
That doesn’t make anyone a hypocrite. It simply reflects the reality of our industry. We work to budgets, seasons, client expectations and logistics. Sometimes we must make compromises, and we don’t think those compromises should overshadow all the positive choices being made every single day.
Supporting Progress
So, instead of expecting perfection, perhaps we should spend more time recognising progress.
If you can avoid using floral foam, brilliant. If you can’t, perhaps we should also acknowledge companies such as Oasis and Phoam, who continue to invest significant time and resources into developing more sustainable and ultimately biodegradable alternatives. Those products don’t appear overnight. They take years and years of research, investment and determination.
The same applies to flowers. Buying locally is a fantastic option, but when flowers do need to be imported, let’s support farms that are doing the right things. Farms that are investing in their people, protecting biodiversity, reducing water use, and continually improving the way they grow.
Across the World of Spray Rosescommunity, we see this every day. Growers, breeders and suppliers are all working incredibly hard to reduce their environmental impact while continuing to produce the beautiful flowers our industry relies on. There is still plenty of work to do, but there is also a huge amount of progress worth celebrating.
Every Better Choice Counts
Perhaps this is the point we’re trying to make.
Our industry is already under enough scrutiny from the outside. Do we really need to spend so much time judging one another from within?
Let’s continue encouraging florists to reduce floral foam. Let’s continue promoting locally grown flowers wherever possible. Let’s continue asking questions and looking for better ways of doing things.
But let’s also celebrate the businesses investing in innovation, the growers striving to farm more responsibly, the breeders developing stronger varieties, the wholesalers reducing waste, and the florists doing their very best with the challenges they face every day.
Sustainability isn’t about one perfect decision. It’s about thousands of better decisions being made across our industry every single day. There are rarely simple answers, and perhaps there never will be. But if we can have more honest conversations, a little less judgment, and a lot more support for one another, we’ll all move much further, much faster.
After all, we’re all working towards the same goal.
