Every year on Valentine's Day, millions of people express their love with a beautiful bouquet of cut flowers. An estimated 250 million of flowers, most of them roses, are exchanged globally. And it can feel wonderful to receive a bundle of roses from your beloved. But behind the well-intentioned gesture is a disturbing reality rife with environmental and human rights abuses.
It’s not fun to burst a lovely bubble like the exchange of flowers on Valentine’s Day, or even the joy buying flowers for yourself (apparently the Miley Cyrus song ‘Flowers’ has caused an unfortunate uptick in sales). But I want you to be aware of unintended impact. Plus there are regenerative solutions, local options like the Slow Flower Movement, and so many other ways to express love. First, let’s look at the impact of the global floral industry:
HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES
Mass production of cut flowers relies on countries like Colombia, Kenya, and Ecuador where flower workers, the majority of them women, experience devastating side effects from toxic chemicals and are forced to work long hours with less than a living wage. According to Anti-Slavery International, in Kenya it’s “commonplace for people to be forced to work under threats, retaliation, intimidation and fear of losing their jobs.”1 Witness For Peace Solidarity Collective advocate on behalf of flower workers in Columbia and write that “employees often work 12-22 hour shifts, earning little pay and suffering major health impacts from repetitive activities and dangerous pesticides.” You can learn more about this in a 2022 Guardian article excerpted from Orwell’s Roses by Rebecca Solnit.
CHEMICALS & PESTICIDES
More than two-thirds of the flowers sold in the United States come from Columbia where over 100 types of fungicides, herbicides, insecticides, and preservative chemicals are used, including those known as probable carcinogens. Most are treated with synthetic pesticides like glyphosate that contribute to the heartbreaking decline of pollinators. While there are strict rules for using certain pesticides on produce, the flower market can slip by the constraints since ornamental flowers are not classified as food.2
FLOWERS ARE THIRSTY
Producing a single rose bloom requires as much as three gallons of water; a thirst that depletes local water sources while runoff from fertilizers and pesticides pollute rivers and groundwater. In Kenya, Lake Naivasha is repeatedly drained for irrigation, resulting in decreasing water levels each year.
CARBON FOOTPRINT
Large events like weddings often demand perfect, identical flowers which means importing flowers from distant producers. This leads to substantial carbon emissions through refrigerated transport and long-haul flights. Not to mention all the plastic-wrap used in packaging and bouquets.
NOW FOR SOME ALTERNATIVES…
🌱 Embrace "imperfect" local blooms and support responsible producers like the Slow Flower movement.
🌱 Buy organic potted plants and native wildflower seeds to plant when the ground is ready.
🌱 Create something with you heart and hands. Write a poem for your loved one, make a card or record a song (no matter how tone-deaf you are, this is incredibly romantic).
🌱 Make a mix-tape; a playlist of meaningful songs and listen to them together. This was one of my favorite ways to express and bathe in love back in the day.
🌱 Make an infusion of heart healing Hawthorn tea and cook a delicious meal together.
🌱 Take a stroll through your local bookstore and gift a book, maybe a book of love poems.
🌱 Sponsor a mating pair of critically endangered wolves at the Wolf Conservation Center or support Project Coyote by sending one of their Valentine’s Day eCards.
🌱 Finally, learn how you can support Flower Workers via the Action Network.
This Valentine's Day, let's forgo toxic flowers and embrace a more mindful, creative approach to love. We can celebrate each other with greater authenticity while respecting people, pollinators, and our beloved planet.
https://www.antislavery.org/latest/flower-sector-exploitation-of-women-in-kenya/
https://lastinghealth.com/news/are-pesticides-lurking-in-your-valentines-day-roses/
Eye opening information. Heartbreaking to think of the inhumane working conditions and threat to the environment all for the sake of profit. The flowers and chocolates are both suspect depending on where they are produced. I love Valentine's day because of the sweet sentiment, ease of gift/card exchange, but there won't be any more cut flowers in my home after reading this. I like the alternative ideas. I also thought of a homemade card with the givers attempt at drawing a rose for me, a walk at the local botanical gardens, a new plant for the yard, so many other ways to express love and warmth without bringing anyone else down. Thanks for bring this out into the open, Vanessa!
What an eye opening post. Thank you for drawing attention to this issue. Mass consumption, profit over people, mindless consumerism and desensitising to the plight of others and not thinking long term for a quick short term "high" is taking over every single industry. Turning to local, being mindful and being gentle with our resources is the only sensible route through this all. We stopped buying flowers many years ago, my lovely neighbour (a dear woman from China with a deep love affair for blooms and a deep talent for watercolours and portraits) has cultivated the most beautiful garden of David Austen roses, foxgloves, daisies, dahlias and wildflowers. Every now and then she leaves a bench full of bespoke bouquets with an "honesty cash box" out front and it is always a treat to buy a beautiful bouquet when she does that. And our Valentine's love language is food. I make a special 3-course meal every year for my husband and two boys and we set a nice table and enjoy a lovely meal and toast to love :). Hope you have a lovely weekend! Thank you for mentioning my recipes. x