Mother’s Day flowers have a massive environmental cost

Research shows that UK shoppers intend to buy 20 million bouquets of flowers for loved ones this Mother’s Day. But as each bouquet often comes wrapped in a plastic sleeve, this contributes to a disheartening amount of plastic waste.

New data shows that equates to around 2.7 million m² of plastic film. This would be enough to cover 378 football pitches or enough to wrap Buckingham Palace 35 times.

All of this comes with a significant carbon footprint, with 124.2  tonnes of CO₂ emissions generated from the production of this plastic. That’s the same as approximately 15 UK households’ annual emissions.

Each bunch of flowers also often comes with one or two sachets of food in a plastic container, which further adds to plastic waste. Rubber bands usually hold each bouquet together, potentially adding 20 million rubber bands to landfill every Mother’s Day.

Rubber bands take up to 50 years to biodegrade and can be incredibly harmful to the environment. If burned they release carcinogenic pollution into the atmosphere. Rubber bands can be dangerous for wildlife too, causing them to become tangled up and injured. And animals and birds can eat them and die.

Most sleeves for flower bouquets are made specifically from clear polypropylene film. This material can be recycled, but it’s unlikely local council collection services will take it. This means people can’t generally put it in household recycling bins.

Some retailers and large supermarkets may offer in-store recycling for soft plastics, which could include polypropylene film. However, availability can differ locally.

How can we reduce flower waste this Mother’s Day?

Choose sustainable packaging. Flowers wrapped in paper or reusable fabric avoids unnecessary plastic waste. Alternatively, potted plants over cut flowers can be a more sustainable option.

Avoid flower food sachets; these add further plastic waste. It’s best to avoid them altogether with a better option being to make plant food at home instead.

Avoid or reuse rubber bands – String or ribbon can be both an aesthetic and environmentally friendly way to hold together bouquets as opposed to rubber bands, but if bouquets do have elastic bands, it’s best to reuse them.

Mark Hall, waste management expert at BusinessWaste.co.uk, commented on plastic waste:

Mother’s Day provides us with the opportunity to show gratitude to one of the most important people in our lives, but many don’t realise how the impact gifts can have on mother nature.

The plastic film used to wrap bouquets can be problematic as most councils are unlikely to collect it for recycling, meaning most of the 2.7 million m² of wrap is likely to head for landfill.

This doesn’t mean consumers need to stop purchasing flowers, but we’d encourage them to stop and consider the packaging used, opting for the most sustainable option where possible.

We also believe it would be helpful for florists and retailers to work to provide takeback schemes for this type of plastic and ensure thorough signage and guidance is given.

The flower market has significant global transport factors and often poor conditions for workers. Maybe it’s time to think more creatively about how to celebrate Mother’s Day.

Featured image via the Canary