It has become clear that reducing single-use plastic is a challenge which all individuals and businesses need to take on. I’d like to use this blog post to give some of our thoughts about the issue and make a pledge about a small but significant step we as a company are taking to play our part in this battle we all face.
I don’t know about you, but as an individual, I find it hard to live as plastic-free as I would like to. We have all become addicted to this wonder-material which is so useful, cheap and effective for so many purposes. Just a simple trip to the supermarket is loaded with all kinds of new decisions and compromises – weighing up between products using the least plastic vs products with the most affordable price tag vs products of the best quality vs products which are healthiest. Sometimes it feels like no product comes without any guilt attached so the question becomes, ‘which can I feel least guilty about?’.
It seems as though across most industries, this challenge to reduce plastic use without detriment to quality and customer experience is a journey – one that will take a bit of figuring out. The floristry industry, and we as part of that, have to keep moving on this journey too.
I’d like to be open and honest and have some discussion with my customers about what we are doing, what we hope to do and where our challenges lie, so you can understand and trust that we are moving in the right direction.
To that end, I want to share with you one of the steps along this journey – my decision to replace the standard floral foam bricks we use for many floral arrangements and funeral tributes, for an innovative new product which has considerably better environmental credentials.
The standard floral foam is essentially a single-use plastic, which as we all know cause problems for our environment because they continue to accumulate in oceans and habitats and take decades to degrade.
From now, Regency Flowers will be using floral foam bricks which have biodegrade 51.5% within one year and up to 91% in four years in biologically active landfill sites.
Currently this foam is available in most of the forms we use. Unfortunately there are still some forms we can’t get but these are on their way and as and when they become available we will be using them – it’s all part of the journey.
Using this more biodegradable foam means we can improve our impact on the environment while not compromising the form, style and quality of our work – our customers won’t be able to tell the difference.
In the meantime we continue to look for ways to reduce plastic and continue the journey. As we do, we will keep up the conversation and keep you informed.
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