Sustainable Floral Design
How to do it and why it matters
Sustainable floristry is a drive that has evolved over several years that encourages arrangers to be environmentally aware and work to reduce their carbon footprint. By practicing sustainable floristry, you can do your part to reduce and eliminate the harmful effects of bringing beautiful flowers into your home. Going foam-free is only one component of the practice of sustainable floral designing.
Important Notes on Using Floral Foam:
Floral foam is a single-use, petroleum-derived product, and a non-renewable resource. Even the new biodegradable foam products can take years to break down in a landfill.
Do not cut foam when it is dry, to avoid inhaling the floral foam dust.
Learn techniques that help you to arrange without using foam.
Choose containers that do not require foam, but be aware that stems tend to slide up or pop out of shallow vessels like compote bowls.
Less foam is better and no foam is best. Start slowly and work to move in the direction of floral foam-free arranging.
Alternatively use a ball of chicken wire in your container, secure it in place with floral tape and insert the stems through the wire.
Reduce Your Waste:
Compost all of your organic floral material.
Carefully recycle/repurpose your mechanics to create less trash that winds up in a landfill.
Dried flowers are hot! The trend for using dried flowers mixed with fresh flowers is an up-and-coming trend. It results in a great mix with different textures, colors, and gives new life to flowers that otherwise might have been discarded.
If you are buying a bouquet, ask for it to be wrapped in paper instead of plastic.
Start a project in your club that collects and repurposes event flowers, bringing twice-loved blooms to those most in need in our communities.
Restyle donated flowers іntо bouquets or bedside аrrаngemеntѕ and dеlіvеr them tо nursing homes, homeless shelters, schools, and more.
Rethink Your Mechanics:
Instead of foam, chicken wire can become your go-to option when basic structure is needed; it is reusable and your plant material lasts longer.
Reusable, recyclable plastic “pillows” and “eggs” that mimic chicken wire forms are available through floral supply retail outlets.
Explore ways to hide your water source.
Make a moss-filled "roulade," a crescent-shaped form made of chicken wire-bound moss centers. When soaked in water, it will hold and hydrate flower stems and can be mounted on an arbor or structure.
Make a "stakes-in-concrete" armature, a vertical structure composed of branches secured in a form filled with a mixture of plaster or concrete.
Create a freestanding wooden frame with chicken wire forms.
Source Locally-Grown Plant Material:
Shift your floral focus from expensive, exotic, and far-flung blooms to locally grown or sustainable alternatives. Try to select materials within the confines of what’s local and in season.
Find plant material you can cut from the roadside.
Plant shrubs, perennials, and annuals in your garden that you can use in arrangements.
Grow plants in your garden with staggered bloom times in order to ensure a steady supply over the course of the year.
Buy your plant material from local growers. The quality of the materials is outstanding; it is picked from the field one day, hydrated, and out in the market the next day. The less time it takes for the blooms to get into your hands, the better.
Why Does It Matter? It matters because we need to reverse the negative impact commercial growing has had on our environment. It matters because we want the joy and beauty of flowers to be cherished by generations to come. It matters because products should be sourced and grown without significant damage to the ecosystem. Sustainable floristry is one way to ensure the relationship we have with our environment stays balanced.
With these practices in mind, revisit the floral designs in this show and see if you can tell which were more sustainably produced?
