Décors Véronneau and the environment
Décors Véronneau is a Canadian company specializing in the sale of artificial plants and flowers, conscious of its environmental impact.
Attentive to customers’ needs, Décors Véronneau puts forward sustainable alternatives while striving to reduce its carbon footprint through recycling, participating in environmental organizations and by surrounding itself with suppliers who share the same values.
What Décors Véronneau does to reduce its footprint:
About artificial plants:
It’s often believed that natural flowers and green plants sold in garden centers are a better environmental choice than artificial plants. However, a closer look reveals that the equation is not quite as simple as it seems, and that both types of product have their advantages and disadvantages. Here are six points to help you draw your own conclusions and make an informed choice.
Plant growing
"Growing Dutch lilies produces the highest emissions, followed by Kenyan gypsophila."
Pesticide use
"Up to 20% of banned or untested pesticides are found in imported fresh flowers!"
Impact on peat
"Since peat mining began, more or less 26,000 hectares of wetlands have been drained."
Plant provenance
"70% of fresh flowers come from abroad, mainly from Latin America."
Maintenance issues
"A single natural rose requires 7 to 13 liters of water to bloom in Kenya's greenhouses."
Durability concerns
"In the case of fresh cut flowers, their lifespan is about twenty days at most."
1- Plant growing
Since the demand for natural flowers and plants does not take into account the seasons and conditions required for optimal growth, they often have to be grown in greenhouses with a high carbon footprint. Just think of plants that come from tropical countries and are imported into regions where the climate is totally different.
According to a study by Lancaster University, growing Dutch lilies produces the highest emissions, followed by Kenyan gypsophila, Dutch roses and Kenyan roses!
2- Pesticide use
During the growing season, the excessive use of fertilizers and pesticides – which are not regulated in some countries – ends up in watercourses. “In the south of Finistère (in France), flower bulbes cover hundreds of hectares. They require the use of herbicides, fungicides and insecticides throughout the year, which then end up in the ocean”, indicated the independent investigative media Basta! in one of its investigative reports in July 2022.
According to Protégez-vous, “imported cut flowers contain up to 20% of pesticides that are banned or not yet tested in North America!
3- Impact on peat
According to Dr Trevor Dine of the Plantlife charity, there’s a real problem with the use of sphagnum peat moss in most potting soil mixes, including seed production: “commercial extraction can eliminate over 500 years of growth in a single year“.
As stated in an article on peat bogs in Éco habitation: “since the beginning of peat mining, more or less 26,000 hectares of wetlands have been drained“. Yet peatlands are carbon reservoirs, and their degradation can have a number of consequences for the environment. According to Radio-Canada, “peatlands in the boreal zone have the capacity to store nearly 700 times the CO2 emissions emitted in Quebec per year, i.e. 55,000 Mdt.”
4- Plant provenance
Every year, Americans spend nearly $20 billion on fresh flowers, around 70% of which come from abroad, mainly Latin America, according to the Society of American Florists. These flowers are grown around the world and transported in refrigerated trucks, then flown by airplane for maximum freshness and a lifespan of 10 to 20 days at best.
According to the International Council on Clean Transportation: “transporting four billion roses from Colombia to the United States in the three weeks leading up to Valentine’s Day generates some 360,000 tonnes of CO2, equivalent to the combined annual emissions of 78,000 cars”.
5- Maintenance issues
Natural plants require more resources over their lifetime, which can potentially increase the overall carbon footprint. Just think of the travel required by the company in charge of watering and maintaining natural plants for an other company, who must travel on a weekly basis. Water use is also a factor to consider.
According to Protégez-vous: “Flowers are thirsty: a single rose bud requires 7 to 13 liters of water to bloom in Kenya’s greenhouses, according to researchers at the University of Twente in the Netherlands.”
6- Durability concerns
Although the lifespan of a natural plant can be considerable, a number of factors can influence its longevity: adequate watering and care, light requirements, etc. In many cases, however, not all these conditions are met, and plants have to be replaced after a few years, or even a few months.
In the case of natural cut flowers, the situation is even more alarming, since their lifespan is around twenty days at most.