The true cost of cut flowers is way more than the price tag at the vendor. Oddly, it's likely that the cheaper a bunch of flowers is, the more likely it's environmental cost is high. Clearly this is a very broad statement, but if you are looking for the most planet friendly decision in a hurry, it's a useful one to live by and get it right most times.
Another very simple rule of thumb is to support a local grower and there are an increasing number of micro flower farms across Australia. By just doing a quick search, you should be able to find the one nearest you. The straight up advantage of local growers is that the chances of them having been lathered with chemicals for preservation or passing customs is immediately lower. Of course they haven't done travel miles either so transport emissions are 90% more likely to be lower.
Think seasonal, pesticide-free, native Australian flowers grown with much love and a lot of hard work by your neighbour farmer. Natives need little or no pesticides or even fertilisers. And seasonal means fresh and generally not or at least limited refrigeration.
How flowers are grown is easy to find out - remember the base rule. Pretty much every eco grower, maker or seller will volunteer their eco credentials if they have credentials to boast about. Ask your local florist where they get their supply from and if they know how the flowers are grown.
The thing about imported flowers, apart from travel miles, is that they have to both be kept alive and treated for disease control. Those two factors alone, even before you begin to consider where flowers are grown, who grew them and how they were grown (with pesticides) are already shouting issues.
Across Australia, we have numerous micro farms and the list is growing every day. Here are links to some we rounded up. If you know of anyone or we missed you, please drop us a note or comment below.