Beautiful flower arrangements can deliver all kinds of messages, and around this time of year, ‘Happy Mother's Day’ is one of those heartfelt messages. But wrapped up in the love also tends to be a vast amount of plastic.

The problem with packaging

The fresh-cut flower industry has substantial environmental costs, such as water contamination from pesticides and fertilisers and the enormous carbon footprint associated with refrigerated air and road travel. All this is then gift-wrapped in non-recyclable and non-biodegradable materials such as plastic, foam and cellophane. 

When it comes to packaging, historically, florists have used various materials and methods to keep flowers fresher for longer. So much is used when packaging one arrangement, from plastic wraps, foam, cellophane, ribbons, and bags; plastic is ubiquitous in floral arrangements - only to be discarded in a week or so. And unfortunately, this has led to a significant amount of plastic waste in the industry, which will still all be present on our planet next Mother’s Day, hugely contributing to our global crisis. 

Aside from our unique bio-preserved methods of creating long-life (up to a year) flowers, we don't just stop our sustainability efforts at the flowers; we also have a solution and plastic-free alternative for their packaging.  

Our packaging uses biodegradable foam

Made from starch, it simply dissolves in water

Our sustainable alternative 

At Ethereal Blooms, our sustainable floristry methods aim to leave a smaller footprint. Being sustainable is about making choices and options at each stage of the floristry process, and packaging - albeit the latter stage - isn't any exception. 

Our boxes are 100% recyclable kraft cardboard. We chose Kraft because it is more sustainable, extremely strong and durable, ensuring our blooms are completely protected in transportation - a perfect alternative to plastic. 

When it comes to packing foam, we use a starch and 100% biodegradable alternative. Unlike the expanded polystyrene foam packing peanuts that are highly toxic to the environment and the hazardous waste produced from their manufacturing process, ours simply dissolve in water. 

By choosing your Mother's Day arrangement from us, you will be able to express love with a beautiful and bespoke floral design and show your love for our planet while doing so. 

Contact one of the team at Ethereal Blooms today for more information.