During a recent holiday to Bali, Auckland-based florist Rosie Holt collected memories she’ll never forget. But not all of them for the better. She was incredibly incensed by the rubbish that crowded the streets and smothered the beach. This lead to her thinking about the floral industry back home and the huge waste she’d seen over the years. From this Rosie was inspired to create the Florists Against Plastics movement.
We sat down with Rosie, the founder of Rose Tinted Flowers, to hear more about her business and her plans for cleaning up the floral industry.
Tell us about your journey to becoming a florist
“I’ve always loved flowers. The botanical influence runs deep in our family, and was passed from my grandmother to my mother, and from my mother to me. I guess it was inevitable I would follow in their footsteps”
But becoming a florist was a bit of a rocky road for me. I took a little detour along the way. I abandoned a law degree and ditched a career in fashion and media. In the end, I simply grew tired of the daily grind on behalf of someone else, and came back to that which I loved most.”
What’s the story behind Rose Tinted Flowers?
“Rose Tinted Flowers sprung to life in April 2015. It started in my garden shed, which I soon outgrew. I graduated to a pop-up shop, which took me to many parts of the city. Our team has grown considerably too. We now create beautiful bouquets for our lovely customers in our two shops – Ponsonby Central and St Kevin’s Arcade.
We aim to be as environmentally friendly as possible. We achieve this by using locally grown flowers. We’ve moved to biodegradable bags for wrapping stems and recyclable paper to wrap our arrangements. We also offer our customers the option of purchasing a vase instead. And then there’s e-bike delivery.
As it stands, we’re currently one of the tall poppies when it comes to ‘green initiatives’ in our industry. Yes, there are still more changes I’d love to make, but am pretty happy with the progress. ”
What’s the current state of the floral industry?
“It’s beautiful on the surface, but when you step back you see the environmental impact is atrocious. About 75% of blooms purchased come wrapped in plastic from flower markets. And that’s just the start. Most florists then wrap their arrangements with single-use plastic and keep them fresh with plastic stem protector tubes. There’s no guessing where all this plastic ends up.
But that’s not where the story ends. While it’s not plastic-related, the number of pesticides used is greatly alarming too. Yes, they stop pests from damaging the crops, but what about the damage to the environment? Something has to change. And that’s why I started Florists Against Plastic.”
What are the biggest changes Florists Against Plastic are supporting?
“As with any cause or movement, someone needs to step up and simply be the first to do something. When that happens people will normally jump onboard because the hard work has been done. Well, we’ve done something, starting Florists Against Plastic and putting into place the changes in our business. Our customers are loving it too.
Florists Against Plastic promotes these initiatives:
- Switch to biodegradable bags for wrapping stems.
- Use recycled or upcycled materials for wrapping arrangements.
- Consider sustainable means of delivery, i.e. bike, eBike.
- Stop using floral foam (it’s pretty much cyanide for the environment).
- Consider multi-use arches and other constructed arrangements
- Encourage customers to use vases to keep flowers fresh once delivered.
I know this kind of change will be tough initially, but it just forces you to be more creative and innovative in your approach. Thankfully creativity is normally one of the key characteristics of people getting into the trade. And yes there may be some additional costs to the business, but we view it as being a point of difference, which our customers seem happy to pay for.”
How can your florist business get involved?
“Encouragingly, some florists already are on board. Take Shea from On My Hand and Felicity from Green is the Thing. Both have been actively reducing the amount of plastic used in their business for some. Shea has also been avoiding floral foam for ages and Felicity grows all her flowers in her Grey Lynn garden.
Aside from helping change practices in your floral business, we’d also love for you to check out our website here, and spread the word through social #FloristsAgainstPlastic.
Rosie Holt is the founder of Rose Tinted Flowers.
