Organic food, sustainable lifestyle, and eco-friendly living. All these are in fashion and we limit them only to our food choices which is a bit of irony though. Each of our activities has an ever-lasting impact on the environment. As a local florist Oakville, we are on a mission to find eco-friendly ways to run our florist business. If you want to incorporate our practices for sustainable floristry in your business too, here are the things that will help you to make wise choices to protect Mother Nature.
Build a Sustainable Floral Business That’s Eco-Friendly
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Source Local In-Season Flowers
The top priority of an eco-friendly florist should be sourcing and incorporating local and in-season flowers in their floral arrangements. The native flowers are not only easy to source but also their transportation to your shop leaves lesser carbon footprints. Whereas, exotic flowers, if sourced internationally, make considerable contributions to carbon emissions and if you try to grow them, they require artificial or abundant resources to survive in your environment. So, prefer your local flowers.
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Communicate with your Clients
The exotic flowers are undoubtedly a greater attraction than the local ones. So, it is expected to get their admirers searching for them at your shop. As a committed florist, you must communicate with them to raise awareness about the potential harm of those flowers and encourage them to buy local flowers for eco-friendly choices as most of those clients are only needing directions to eco-friendly living.
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Say no to Floral Foam
Floral foams are the popular means of holding your flower arrangement at its place but it is the time to let go of it. If you observe the environmental aspect of the floral foam you will get to know that they are made up of carcinogenic plastic that breaks down into the poisonous microplastics that pollute our water resources. Switch to reusable chicken wire or eco-friendly wood wool or moss as the sustainable alternatives.
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Eliminate Plastics
Plastics are an unavoidable part of our daily lives but do you know that approximately 90% of that plastic is not recyclable? Wrapping sheets, plastic vases, spray bottles, and other bouquet ornaments are commonly used at a florist’s place but they are not environment friendly. Switching these items to eco-friendly substitutes like substituting plastic wrappers with paper sheets reduces the negative impacts of floristry on the environment.
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Reuse and Recycle Vases
Vases are the key element at every florist shop and we florists are using them frequently, even daily. However, from the customer’s perspective, the vases are of no use for them once their flowers are dried, so they throw them along with the wilted bouquet. Encourage them to return used vases to the shop by offering any form of store credit. Moreover, we recommend you source your vases from thrift stores rather than buying new ones. In this second-hand hunt, you may find some vintage items that will bring shine to your shop by attracting more attention. Recycle vases appropriately when they are no longer in condition to use.
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Compost Leftovers
Garden waste releases tons of carbon dioxide into the environment. The only efficient way to avoid it is to compost the garden leftovers. Composting creates enriched soil for your sustainable garden while efficiently managing the waste produced. If you lack the facility to compost or do not have any use of it, try to communicate with the composting facilities to manage your waste on your behalf.
Final Words
This is not an end to the eco-friendly practices for sustainable floristry as there are a lot of other ways to do it. However, the above practices help you to give an effective kick-start to your sustainability mission as Oakville local florist, to switch to the eco-friendly florist business.
