Dear Human of Planet Earth,
Even if you closed your eyes tight, you probably didn’t miss the ocean of flowers deposited outside Palace gates by well-wishers and mourners of the woman referred to as ‘Lizzy’ by some, and HRH Queen Elizabeth II by others. In case you never heard of her, she was the Head of State of the UK, who passed away last month at 96 and after 70 years of service.
The Palace encouraged mourners to remove plastic packaging before placing flowers down, and assured us cards and notes would be kept as a sentimental record, while the flowers would be composted.
Phew. That’s a relief because those pretty bunches of expensive pre-cut flowers have a heavier carbon footprint than you’d guess! And composting them off-sets that at least a little. See below if you think I’m exaggerating.
Consider that 80% of pre-cut flowers bought in the US and UK are imported. They’re flown in from countries like Kenya, Ecuador, Columbia and Holland. To meet year-round demand, they’re grown out of season and with artificial heat and light. They’re also grown on land that could be used for food agriculture, adding to the pressure to clear forest land for crops.
Though there was no need for it to make the news, my neighbour’s husband died a few weeks ago. I wanted to express my sympathies with flowers in a timely fashion, so I went to the local florist and requested a suitable floral arrangement.
I didn’t ask if the flowers were local and seasonal.
But I’ve since discovered that I could have sourced local and seasonal flowers equally conveniently.
If you’re in the UK, let me introduce you to www.flowersfromthefarm.co.uk.
You can put in your postcode to find flower farms near you!
I just did and now I know that our closest flower farm is less than five miles away:
Fresh, naturally-styled floral arrangements with homegrown Surrey flowers (sowpretty.co.uk)
They offer free delivery to neighbouring areas.
My neighbour’s funeral stipulated ‘No flowers by request.’
That’s nothing new, and I do find myself speculating on why families ask for this.
Perhaps it seems scandalous for loved ones and acquaintances to spend hundreds of pounds on flowers destined to be seen for an hour or two, then die on a grave - when that money could have gone to their loved one’s favourite charity. For example, my neighbour’s family requested donations to the hospice that cared for him in his last weeks. ‘No flowers by request’ increases the size of contributions people can make.
Perhaps flowers make even less sense if cremation is what’s in store.
Perhaps the funeral home has included re-usable or fresh wreaths in the service offered.
Perhaps it’s just personal preference, something expressed by the deceased.
For the climate conscious, I believe there’s an environmental motive too.
If we’re going to be responsible consumers and re-makers of our local and global economy, shipping of hothoused flowers has to be part of yesterday’s world; the sort of consumer product that helped to get us into this climate mess in the first place.
Poor flowers. I’m being harsh aren’t I? They didn’t ask to be grown.
Even so, my funeral instructions will say:
No flowers by request, unless they’re local, seasonal - or best of all, grown and cut from your own garden or window-box.
Do you agree?
No flowers by request, not just at funerals, but for birthdays, anniversaries and Valentine’s day too, unless they’re local, seasonal - or best of all, grown and cut from your own garden or window-box.
And remember for the lazy or superbusy among us, we’ve got our local entrepreneurs to the rescue: Flowers from the Farm - About Us
If you’re not in the UK, please do share any similar resources or locations for sourcing fresh, local and seasonal flowers in the comments below!
With Love, but no flowers by request,
Your Friendly Neighbourhood Radical,
Croydon,
London,
That patch of earth known today as the United Kingdom
Lat +51.51 Long, -0.118
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My data sources for the flower industry and carbon emissions of flowers and apples:
How Bad Are Bananas? by Mike Berners-Lee
Is it Really Green? by Georgina Wilson-Powell