As florists, we love flowers! We love creating beautiful bouquets and extraordinary designs that make you inhale with delight and exclaim “WOW” with amazement! But we’re also very mindful of our impact on the environment.
Floristry as an industry contributes to large amounts of plastic waste dumped in landfills, the use of toxic chemicals and the production of high carbon emissions.
That’s why we do things differently.
As members of the Sustainable Tourism Network, we join in the vision of reducing our carbon footprint on Aotearoa.
We’re committed to the three R’s – Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. 

How we effect change

We’re always looking for new innovative ways to effect change and challenge our commitment to sustainability.
“Sustainability for events means taking action towards preserving our natural environment; promoting a healthy, inclusive society; and supporting a thriving economy.” – The Events Industry Council (EIC)
Here are some of the ways we do things differently.

We are the creators of the Naked Bouquet

Elegant, beautiful bouquets don’t need to be wrapped!! We created the Naked Bouquet which makes its own statement, wrapped in recycled newspaper and bound with twine. It is all completely compostable.

We pay it forward on your behalf and recycle your unwanted flowers wherever possible

After events, if the flowers and floral arrangements are unwanted we take them to preschools, hospitals, hospices, rest homes or other places of your choice. This allows the blooms to be enjoyed for their full lifetime.
We have also taken used flowers to offices for staff to enjoy and RSA’s.
Some clients have opted to have their flowers taken to police and emergency services to say thank you to our essential workers for the marvellous jobs that they all do to keep our community safe.

We use both fresh and artificial flowers

We all love the smell of beautiful fresh flowers when you enter a room! On some occasions though, situations are too warm, and the blooms wilt too quickly, causing us to have to use more than necessary and replace too often.
In these situations we mix some artificial flowers in with fresh foliage and blooms, giving a full and bold impact, hold their forms and creating the desired outcome.
Artificial flowers are safer to use when hanging as there are no heavy water filled vessels and unnecessary drips, therefore preventing potential hazards.
Artificial flowers also reduce water consumption as they do not require watering, and can be reused!

We use live plants

Wherever we can we use live native plants in our displays, these are either hired and returned to the growers after the events or donated to organisations for planting, donating to Christchurch food for schools and community gardens, and to the Christchurch Foundation’s Tūī Project, for regeneration of native birdlife in the city.

We reuse all water

We tip all of the water from our buckets and vases into the garden or verge outside our business property, so that no water is wasted.

We recycle unwanted vases

Providing clients a repurposed vase that fits the size of their flowers effectively increases the longevity of our stunning bouquets.  It means our designs remain as they are created and are presented to you ready to go, so you can enjoy immediately. No need to try to find the “right” vase!
It also recycles those unwanted vases and removes the need for any wrapping on bouquets. (Donate your unwanted vases here).

We reduce waste & non-compostable

Wherever possible we reduce waste and any products that cannot be composted.
We don’t print on core-flute or foam board, we have beautiful reusable A1 frames and print on compostable paper using vegetable ink so the paper can be composted afterwards.
Where possible, we do not use oasis, where we do we choose biodegradable or compostable.
Where possible, we provide your flowers naked, wrapped in newspaper, in recycled vases, or we loan our own vases.
We are minimising the use of one-off zip ties, replacing with reusable velcro.
All cuttings, stems and left-overs from our bouquets and flower arrangements are composted.
We are currently sourcing and are testing compostable cellophane – watch this space.
Where possible, we repair any broken equipment to avoid waste.
We collaborate with other industry suppliers, sub hiring elements that we may not need again in order to avoid unnecessary waste.

We source local

While we do source products internationally, most of our flowers are sourced from local growers, right here in New Zealand.
We strive to ensure any internationally sourced products are ethically grown and harvested.

We are a “HIVE” of activity

Did you know that we have a Bee Hive on top of our workshop?
We are supporting bees and helping to increase pollination in our area. Bees fly 5 kilometres every day to gather pollen for their bee hive, pollinating gardens and producing our  “Honey- from the Florists Garden”.
Once harvested, our honey makes delicious gifts to go with our sustainable bouquets.

We avoid toxic pesticides

We try to avoid pesticides, but if we do need to use them, we try use environmentally BEE friendly pesticides, particularly when plants are flowering.

My grandma always taught me that when there is a dandelion in the garden put a little bit of salt in the centre and it will die, and that is what we do. Also boiling the jug and pouring it on the odd weed soon takes care of it.

We are learning to love weeds, and plant heaps of ground cover and mulch lots to prevent them!

We give back

We love being active in our community, supporting charities, good causes and local sports groups however we can. Some of our recent sponsorships include the Canterbury Rugby Union, Maia Health Foundation and Bowel and Liver Trust Charity.