Faux or Real Flowers - The environment

I was very interested to see that the Parish of South Gillingham, and those who manage St Peters Church in Bredhurst, are keen to discuss the environmental issues within the closed graveyard around the church and the new burial ground, which is on the opposite side of the road from the church.

It has caused me to think carefully about the issues and arguments regarding real flowers compared to faux flowers placed on the graves.

When you think of the environment you initially think of beautiful flowers, trees, bushes that produce amazing colour. The natural environment to which they grow is amazing to see and wonder upon.  But, if you look further there are environmental issues that have to also be taken into account when making the decision to place cut flowers and plants on a grave rather than faux flowers.

Firstly, cut flowers are beautiful, they provide colour and the feeling that you have when placing the flowers in a vase in the headstone of a grave helps while you remember your loved ones.  You may choose what would have been their favourite and the scent fills your senses. 

But, have you considered the environmental impact of these beautiful petals? What were they wrapped in? Where did they come from and how far have they travelled?  Who grew them?  How were they grown? 

A simple search on the internet produces a wealth of information.  There are lots of reports and research on the production of flowers and from a laypersons point of view you can be confused with all the information but there is a common trend. 

Unfortunately, there are lots of emissions produced in the production of flowers depending on where they are produced.  Approximately 90% of the UK’s cut flowers are produced overseas, our imports still mainly arrive from the Netherlands but that is not always the start of their journey. 

The Netherlands will import from many countries from far afield (many where working conditions are very poor) including Kenya, Colombia. Ecuador, Ethiopia and many more. 

We, the UK, import directly from The Netherlands, Colombia, Ecuador, Kenya, Ethiopia, China, Belarus, Italy, Malaysia, Belgium, Spain, Canada, Israel, Germany, Thailand, The Canary Islands, The Caribbean, Chile, India, Malta, Morocco, South Africa, Turkey and Venezuela. No need to say, the carbon footprint is colossal.

Now if you are looking at the carbon footprint, you may think that buying from the Netherlands is better. The research shows that it is actually not always the case. The climate for growing flowers, for example roses, is better in warmer climates where the plants are grown out of green houses and then cut and flown abroad.  The emissions from the growing of the flowers is less even if you take into account the transportation.  

Some flowers that are grown further north are produced in green houses that are heated, some by natural light, but when the temperature drops mechanisms are there to heat the greenhouses. What do they use? Some use solar power, but some use fossil fuels to do this.  So, I was surprised to discover that the emissions to produce flowers in the Netherlands was higher than that of flowers in Kenya even taking into account the transportation costs. 

All very confusing. But thinking very basically, there is a huge cost to the environment for your natural flowers.  And not forgetting the pesticides that are used during the growing process, along with them being treated with ethylene blocking chemicals to delay ripening and the thousands of refrigerated lorries that are used to ensure they do not ruin due to transport. In Kenya, they are grown in hydroponic polytunnels and watered three times a day before being cut. When cut, the stem is like an open wound: it needs intensive care, so is put straight into an antibacterial solution.

Now, the alternative, faux flowers.

Manufacturers and buyers are changing and have been doing so for many years.  Many, many faux flowers are made using recycled products these days and the flowers that are being produced are beautiful.  They obviously do not have the scent of a real flower but they produce the same feelings of delight with the colours and you have to look very carefully and even touch them to see the difference from the real article. 

There is also the fact that you also have the choice of many ways to reuse them once they have become ‘weather beaten’. They can be washed and replaced or reused elsewhere.  Again, a simple internet search produced many ideas on what you can make from them.  Some local councils offer recycling of faux flowers.

I also found that some sellers of faux flowers offer a return service where they will recycle them for you. And if you buy sensibly, the plastic used is rPET which is the world’s fourth most common plastic resin used. The ‘r’ stands for recycled. 

With regards to transportation, almost all faux flowers are manufactured in China, a long way away. But they are lighter and there is no rush to get them to the consumer and therefore are able to be shipped, thus the emissions for transport are far far less than refrigerated plane holds or lorries. They are generally boxed, meaning the cardboard can be recycled and breaks down in the compost heap or landfill. Think before you buy and make sustainable choices. Recycle and reuse where possible. 

Considering these issues, what would you choose to place on a grave from an environmental point of view?

Real cut flowers and plants, if you are lucky enough to live close to the graveyard or burial ground, I suspect you go there quite regularly. How do you get there? By car? Think of the emissions. If you plant flowers or place cut flowers, you take off the plastic wrapping or take them out of plastic pots. Have you considered what happens to the pots and wrapping? Are they recycled? If you leave them in the bin at the church they are NOT recycled. 

They are bagged and left by the public bin in the lane waiting to be taken by the council (the church does not contribute to this service, the bags are taken by ‘special arrangement’ at the cost to the council tax payer but that is another story) or they are burnt on the bonfire.

You place the flowers in vases or plant them in the ground, you water them. You go home. The cut flowers last a week or maybe 10 days if the weather is kind, then they droop and die. They are placed in the bin or onto composting and there is so much composting at the burial ground and they have so much they don't know what to do with it all. So, they get rid of it at the back of the church in the woods that they DO NOT OWN, dumping organic waste, basically fly tipping!  And yes, there is photographic evidence of this.

There is also a huge amount of research into the pesticides used affecting pollinators.

The flowers you have planted need care, they need to be watered, which involves more travel and more water use.  The management of St Peters also have a bonfire nearly every week burning rubbish and dead flowers which includes plastic wrapping from flowers and this causes some serious pollutants to be released into the atmosphere. 

And the alternative is faux flowers, which do not require watering, although a quick wash in a bowl of clean water once every six months uses a small amount of water.  The pollinators ignore them, the birds ignore them but the people admire them and the view of many rows of colour is pleasing to the eye.

We cannot and should not judge the choice people make with regards to what flowers are right or wrong. 

It is also important to consider all people who may visit the churchyard to lay flowers. Some of which may be elderly, or those who do not have the movement to kneel by a grave, may not be able to plant beautiful flowers or re-visit to regularly water them.

There is comfort to the bereaved when they see that their loved ones grave is tidy, tended and full of colour.  Whatever you choose, faux or real flowers, there is an environmental cost. The right thing to do is to consider the cost to the environment as well as your own personal issues.  And the right thing to do is to give people the choice.

The views in this blog are our own. We are not trying to influence anyones decisions apart from opening the conversation. There are views and there are others views, but let's be adults about it.