You’d think because we work with a natural product floristry wouldn’t be so bad for the environment, this is not the case. The floristry industry in Australia and across the world contributes to mountains of landfill, often uses toxic chemicals and produces tones of carbon emissions. The over use of floral foam, or better known as oasis, contributes to millions of micro plastics ending up in our waterways. Floral foam is a product of convenience and is absolutely not necessary in producing a lovely finished product. At I heart Flowers we have been foam free for 4 years, choosing to use old world techniques for our floral displays. We think it actually produces a better design as floral foam wasn’t an all round wonder product, it had it’s draw backs and faults so it was easy for us to give up.

We do not use preserved or dyed flowers, I can’t even believe this has become a thing when nature produces the most exquisite natural product. Preserved and dyed flowers are almost always imported and are created using dangerous chemicals, not only is this harmful to the environment but it’s dangerous for us to work with and for you to be around. Dried flowers however are not preserved, they are dried naturally and we are more than happy to use them.

You are most likely unaware that many of the roses you see in florists around Australia actually come from Kenya and Ecuador, isn’t this crazy? I’m sure if you knew where they can from you’d think twice about buying them and instead choose flowers from a local farmer. We’re very lucky our studio is located only a few kilometers from the flower bowl of Victoria, so it’s not hard for us to source local flowers and foliage. We will always preference a local flower over imported and the only exception to this rule is when there is not enough local stock to meet demands.

We use very limited plastics in our work, just the occasional cable tie (single use) and water vials (multiuse). We used to use thousands of cable ties but have found alternative ways to build our work. On a job site we use pop up bins instead of plastic bin liners to gather up all our rubbish and green waste. When we return to the studio these are tipped on the floor and painstakingly sorted through. We compost all green waste, recycle paper and card board and end up with a very small pile of cut rubber bands and cable ties as landfill. This takes great effort and I can assure you we do not get paid enough from our clients to cover this work, we do it because we care for our planet.