Learning Sustainable Floral Design Methods
Chicken wire is reusable to hold flowers
I love flowers! I love growing them, painting them, designing with them and meeting other like-minded floral obsessed people. I was able to do so recently having traveled to the UK for a fabulous workshop hosted by Sabine Darrell.
Besides the flowers, we focused on sustainable floristry methods which is her specialty. No Oasis foam used and when needed, we used something similar but biodegradable. 3 days and 3 weddings was the theme along with the countryside and Hellens Manor, it was a wonderful experience!
Florists are always learning and when I began with floral design 15 years ago, we used Oasis foam blocks. Each designer had a garbage bin of water and oasis blocks which we used as much as the water we put in the vases. We threw tons of it away due to cutting and fitting and never thought a minute what impact this ubiquitous green stuff had on the environment! In addition to this was touching the bricks of foam and the impact on humans this stuff has!
Floral foam is made from two chemicals considered to be hazardous to humans: phenol and formaldehyde. These substances are mixed with non-hazardous substances to produce the final product. Yes, you read that right!
Preparing a hanging floral frame with Sabine
To this!
Education is key to changing methods and experimenting with different mechanics allows for a variety of alternatives. What I find interesting for myself is using sustainable methods has allowed me to create my style which is garden-like, open and loose which is a complete contrast to working in a floral design studio. I have had to cheat my own rules using foam in a pinch. If the venue sight changes significantly for rain, then I pull out a brick or two to help accomplish the floral installation. But, the usage of floral foam has been reduced drastically and I challenge myself every wedding to be the most sustainable.
Sustainable mechanics creates this!
How does a florist become sustainable? There is a lot of chickenwire used and reused. Over many times it is cut up for smaller pieces, descrunched and stretched. This I use in vases and structures. If there are leftover flowers, I take them and dry them which I am still experimenting with. So, the rubberbands from bunches of flowers I gather up and reuse for drying or holding bouquets. And ribbons are natural fabrics hand dyed with vegetable and plant materials.
Besides helping a couple with their budget, I offer to reuse certain floral structures somewhere else in the venue saving flowers and money.
Changing our ways comes when we become educated. Florists are slowly learning other methods from veteran florists who have paved the way for those who follow. I love being a part of an inherently beautiful industry that is getting more beautiful with our impact on our magnificent earth.
