Green Flowers of Any Color

April Showers Bring May Flowers

Of course, these days you can buy a dozen roses in the dead of winter, but chances are, while they may be red, it’s unlikely they’re very green.

Mother’s Day will soon be here, and every Mom deserves a bright colorful bouquet of flowers – of green flowers.

Flower cultivation is a big business. According to the Union of Concerned Scientists $8 billion was spent in the United States on flowers in 2006. Unfortunately, much of those flowers were grown using chemical fertilizers that endangers farm workers and the environment.

As with so many other consumer items, flowers are often imported from Asia, Central, and South America, where environmental and workplace regulations are lax. Many of the pesticides used to grow flowers in other countries are banned in the United States – up to 20%.

And of course transporting those flowers only magnifies the environmental footprint, adding to energy consumption, air pollution, and global warming.

“But I just want to give mom some flowers!” you say?

Not to worry, options for buying environmentally friendly flowers are growing.

Here’s a list of tips to keep in mind the next time your looking to buy some flowers:

Buy Local – Just like anything agricultural, buying local is always best
Check the Label – There are a variety of certification programs for flowers grown using environmental sustainable and socially conscious methods. These labels include:

USDA Organic – Grown without synthetic chemical pesticides, fertilizers, or sewage sludge (yuk!)
VeriFlora – Flowers under the VeriFlora certification are raised in environmentally and socially conscious ways, in accordance with Scientific Certification Systems. The environmental qualifications are not as stringent as with USDA organic.
Fair Trade – Fair Trade flowers are grown under specific guidelines for environmental sustainability and provides fair wages and decent working condition for the workers that grow them. As with VeriFlora, the environmental qualifications are not as rigorous as with USDA organic.

So the next time your out buying flowers, keep these simple tips in mind. Look for locally grown flowers (ask the florist, and if he can’t tell you, find another florist), and look for flowers grown under a recognized certification program.

After all, Mom deserves nothing less!