Buying flowers for your Mother on Mother’s Day is pretty much a default behavior for many North Americans. I grew up in a rural area and I used to go out into the forest and find some mayflowers. When I was an adult living away from home, I would sometimes buy a hanging plant or a shrub. Cut flowers such as roses are the preferred option for many consumers and their demand fuels a big multi-national industry.
I was surprised to find out that over 75 percent of the 4 billion cut flower stems purchased in the U.S. come from Colombia and Ecuador. The conventional cut flower industry is far from green. It’s a very chemical intensive form of agriculture. There is of course lots of plastic involved in the production and packaging.
“I remember when it was all dotted with family farms, and now the Sabana is blanketed in one vast plastic sheet.”- Carolina DelGado from Jobs with Justice
The industry is using up vast tracks of land that was once used for subsistence agriculture and researchers have found pesticide contamination at soil depths of 300 meters. So much toxins are put into the soil ecosystem that it simply can’t all be broken down.
The post harvest treatment often uses chemicals that are banned in the US.
There is of course a huge amount of fossil fuel burned in order to transport these flowers to the recipient. Along the way they get fumigated by order of the USDA and they also usually get more plastic packaging. The worst part of it all for me is that they serve such a small purpose. They are pretty, but they die after just a few days.
Buying American grown living plants is clearly a better alternative to cut flowers. The product pictured in this post is from GivingPlants.com. They offer fast delivery of living plants that will keep on reminding your mom how much you care for years to come.
May 4th, 2010 at 1:16 pm
Also a nice idea to give plants that can be put into the garden at a later date to be enjoyed for years to come.
There is also a rise in plantable cards made from recylcled paper and embedded with wildflower seeds. I’m not going to be plugging anybody with the latter but I’m sure you can find many of them on hand mades on Etsy or Artfire.
May 8th, 2010 at 10:37 pm
Its a really nice Idea plants can grow and be with the person who receives them for a long time. not like cut flowers. I tweet @waterbluffy
May 9th, 2010 at 9:37 pm
I love this because you can admire them every year! Following you on twitter (Tina12312)
Happy Mother’s Day!
July 16th, 2010 at 11:22 am
Great suggestion for Mother’s Day! I cringe when I go by the flowers at the supermarket, realizing their history.