The easy answer is that they of course last longer, much longer. Most dried flowers can be kept for years. The dried flowers change depending on the light but in essence they fade. The colours become less vivid and they can get a bit dusty. That’s when it’s time to replace the dried flowers.
Fresh flowers compared to dried flowers
For the florist and particularly the event florist, dried flowers can be re-used and repurposed time after time. A dried flower installation can last months in-situ and elements can be changed to refresh whilst the rest of the display can remain. The comparison with fresh flowers is of course that they only last a week or so, they have often been transported 100’s or even 1000’s of miles, often by air and because they are mostly grown on huge scales. The fresh flowers deplete the natural resources of the area, leaving the local people and wildlife without the water they need.
Sustainable improvements
If we look more in-depth at sustainability, it can encompass many things. The definition of sustainability is ‘to avoid depletion of natural resources so that an ecological balance can be maintained’. For our Dutch dried flowers we work together with growers to source the best seeds and time to harvest. Stems are often harvested by hand in the traditional (and best) way. The flowers are then transported to our own drying rooms in Lisse, The Netherlands. Here we have put in many systems over the years and every year we make improvements. Over the last few years we have made the following improvements:
- Changed our cardboard boxes from bleached standard boxes to 71% unbleached recycled FSC board;
- Changed our packing tape to a paper tape;
- Installed over 360 solar panels to provide us with our own electricity supply;
- Invested in traceability systems to ensure we can trace each item back to the grower or supplier;
- Introduced our Eco range (we will go into more detail on this soon).
Our Dutch dried flowers
Our Dutch flowers are grown very close to our drying rooms. Besides that, we also import items from all over the world. However, these items are only shipped by sea container, which is the most carbon efficient methods of transporting goods*. Since 2015 we are an ETI audited company (SEDEX), which ensures all of our supply chain are monitored and registered and regularly audited. Our dyes and paints are all water based and we have our own water purification plant to treat and manage our wastewater.
Dried flower packaging
Finally, we have been working hard with our packaging suppliers too and we can supply your dried flowers and grasses loose, in kraft paper or in a PLA sleeve (otherwise known as bio plastic). So, when it’s time to replace the dried flowers, they can be composted in your compost bin safely.
We are not perfect and there is always room for improvement. And that’s what we try to do more of every single year!
Source: World Shipping Council