Each and everyone of us have choices that we can make - even though at times it can feel overwhelming. With COP26 happening right now we wanted to highlight one simple swap to help our planet for today and for the future. By swapping a supermarket bunch of imported flowers with a bunch of locally grown flowers you will make a difference to your carbon footprint and environmental impact - as well as being able to enjoy the unique beauty of a truly seasonal, sustainable bouquet of flowers.
We are passionate about the planet and our environment. We do all that we can to boost biodiversity, reduce carbon emissions, restore our soil and help the local economy. Hearing the facts and figures arising as COP26 hits the headlines drives us even more to keep producing our low emission, chemical free, beautiful, seasonal flowers. Sustainability is the heart and soul of our business.
What do we do differently?
100% British Flowers - you won't find any flowers for sale by us which have been flown in from Columbia or grown in heated glasshouses in the Netherlands. British flowers have 90% fewer carbon emissions associated with their commercial life span (both the growing methods and the necessary transport) than imported flowers. In fact some of our bouquets have virtually no carbon emissions associated with them - we can grow a large amount from seed, with no artificial heat, harvest and deliver them by hand to our most local customers!
Locally grown plants to get us started - either grown from seed or bought from Hampshire nurseries as far as possible.
Near zero waste - and our packaging is recyclable and compostable.
Electric vehicle deliveries - by partnering with Local Zero we have simultaneously widened our delivery area and reduced our emissions.
Pesticide and fungicide free - we want to encourage as wide a variety of insect life into our field as possible. Instead of reaching for ‘The Bug Spray’ when we see aphids on our plants, we give nature time. Soon enough we will see ladybirds visiting and eating those aphids. Those ladybirds might then become food for a bird and so the food chain continues. If we kill the start of the food chain, it isn’t long before we will see less of the birds and mammals who rely on them. We grow a wide variety of flowers which provide food and habitat for range of different pollinators throughout the season.
No dig methods of growing mean that we support and encourage the soil organisms to multiply. By feeding our soil on the surface only we encourage more life underneath it. This means our plants grown much more healthily and therefore are naturally more resilient to pests and diseases. Turning or ploughing soil destroys those wonderful creatures, leaving the soil depleted and releases carbon stored in the soil.
Peat Free.
We use locally made compost and mulch - ‘Progrow’ comes from the municipal green waste that is composted just down the road from us and ‘Apsley’ is a biodigestate produced near to Andover.
No Greenwashing Here
We try to be as transparent as possible with our methods and sourcing of flowers. It isn’t always easy to tell where flowers have come from… but the best thing we can all do is be curious and ask. A little hint is none of the well known and advertised subscription companies use many (or even any!) British flowers.
We are an open book - all our flowers are either grown by us, other local flower growers, or other bigger British growers and wholesalers. In fact we are very proud of this fact. We also happen to think that these are the best flowers!
And our Floristry?
We use traditional and reusable methods for our floristry, including moss, wooden frames, flower frogs and chicken wire. We never use floral foam.
Floral foam (used in the vast majority of traditional funeral arrangements) is packed with nasties including
carcinogens and it is essentially made of plastic (in fact if you really want to know it contains... Formaldehyde smoke, oxides of carbon, phenol, cresols, xylenols, and sulfur dioxide. The foam is not biodegradable and is essentially made of micro-plastics which are released when soaked. These usually end up going down the sink and are now sadly found in most fish in our rivers.
Flowers From the Farm
We may only supply flowers locally, but we are just one of over 1000 members of a wonderful flower growing network. Flowers From the Farm is an organisation linking and supporting flower farmers in the UK. If you want to send flowers anywhere in the UK do check online to see if there are other local growers near their destination. Just visit the website and search for local flowers.
So we are here, for your feel-good presents to yourself or others; for every life event from new baby bouquets, to festive celebrations; from flower filled weddings to symbolic, biodegradable farewell flowers, you know that by buying from us you are helping nature and planet as well as enjoying the simple, carefree pleasure of Featherstone’s Flowers.
