How The Flower Press incorporates sustainable floristry principles into our practice
We are dedicated to eco-friendly practices and continuously seek ways to improve our environmental impact.
Foam-free
The Flower Press does not use any floral foam (also known as Oasis). Floral foam is a single use plastic, that ends up either in landfill or breaks down becoming a micro plastic in our waterways. There has been a huge amount of publicity about the negative environmental impact of floral foam, yet sadly many florists still use it. Our head designer Alex has spent many hours learning & trialling different techniques to ensure The Flower Press can offer beautiful designs without ever using floral foam. The Flower Press has been foam-free for over 6 years. Alex will also take the time to teach and train her freelancers to work without foam and is happy to say many of those freelancers now feel confident to incorporate new techniques into their personal floristry practices.
Locally grown
Another key aspect of our sustainable practise is by purchasing locally grown flowers and foliage. Not only are imported flowers flown miles around the world but are also sprayed with chemicals to prevent them introducing any biohazards into our beautiful country. Chemical pesticide regulations also differ in many of the countries that export blooms, many of those chemicals used are not legal for use in NZ due to related health concerns. Also, when buying flowers from overseas we cannot be sure of the working conditions the growers, pickers & packers are subject to and whether these are healthy/humane conditions. For these reasons, as well as wanting to support our wonderful local growers, The Flower Press chooses Canterbury grown & NZ grown over imported flowers.
Recyclable packaging
We use recyclable or compostable packaging. We try to limit use the of packaging on our florals only using what is necessary to get your florals to you in perfect condition. We have chosen packaging made from recycled materials that can again be either recycled or composted.
Reusing materials
We reuse our installation mechanics & vases. For our large-scale installations, we use chicken wire structures & specifically designed metal frames to support our floral installations. These structures are used time & time again which is far more sustainable than using multiple blocks of floral foam for every single installation. In our larger scale designs we also use water tubes as a water source for the more fragile blooms, these are also washed & reused. All our vases & vessels are hired for each event allowing us to wash and reuse these multiple times for multiple events.
Avoiding chemicals
No bleached, painted or dyed florals are used by The Flower Press. Painted/ bleached florals & foliage cannot be composted & end up in landfill, potentially leaching chemicals into the ground. They smell dreadful and require gloves to handle safely. (Alex will admit to trialling these products in the past but since learning of their negative impact she has ceased & removed all from the studio).
Reducing waste
As a wedding/event florist we order & purchase exactly what we need for each event, knowing it will all be used without waste.
Recycling
Unfortunately, many wholesale flowers still come wrapped in plastics sleeves & although I would prefer not to purchase these at all, it is sometimes unavoidable. We collect all the crushable plastics and take them to appropriate soft plastic recycling. Any excess packaging such as bubble wrap & carboard are reused for supporting floral arrangements for transport or recycled.
Composting
All green waste is composted.
Avoiding invasive species.
Invasive species of plants to NZ must not be used in floral design to reduce their spread of these species and their subsequent damage to the natural flora and fauna. We will not use any invasive species in our designs.
Education
The Flower Press is continually seeking ways to improve/update our floral practice to be more sustainable, conscious and earth friendly.