YOU’D think floristry would be a pretty green game all round, but many flowers rack up huge carbon miles being imported from overseas and are packaged in nature-strangling plastic.
Northbridge florist Stacey Lenstra has just picked up a Switch Your Thinking award for her greener approach.
She sources flowers locally, cutting down on fuel and the refrigeration needed to keep them fresh. Some florists import stock from as far away as Kenya, Vietnam or Ecuador, and along with hogging jet fuel they’re treated with chemicals during quarantine.
“Most things are grown commercially … in bulk in hothouses and farms, and in other countries the labour costs are lower,” Ms Lenstra says of the lure of purchasing cheaper flowers.
Vases
She also chooses earth-friendly alternatives such as vases over foam flower settings, hiring them out for functions and then using them again.
Ms Lenstra opened Beans & Bunches in the little arcade off William Street in 2011 and decided to go the earth-friendly route shortly after.
“It’s something I realised when working for myself how much waste there is.
“As a business owner I took ownership of my responsibility there.”
The awards are run by the South East Region Energy Group with Perth council.
by DAVID BELL
Perth Voice Interactive 
Leave a comment