Greener Valentines

If you’re considering sharing a Valentine’s Day moment this year, paint your roses green.

Start with “To Pull a Thorn from the Side of the Planet.” (May require free registration.) This New York Times article reports on florists and growers who specialize in organic flowers. To which many people ask, “Why would it matter? We’re not eating them.” Clearly, we still need to reach out to those missing the message that pesticides can be harmful to the planet and other living things.

But there’s more to the issue of organics when it comes to earth-friendly, commercially grown flowers. As with food, which is better: local conventional or organic transported? Beaucoups of bouquets burst from South American soil, then travel outwards to florists worldwide, cutting a swath of transportation carbon along the way. But, as the Times article asks, “what is greener: large loads of flowers transported over long distances efficiently or a smaller number grown locally, but requiring a heated greenhouse and a trip to a farmers’ market in a pickup truck?”

The article also taps into related issues: better worker conditions on certified farms in South America; California’s growers who shun pesticides by growing in hydroponics greenhouses; and online sources for USDA certified organic flowers.

Of course, flowers are just one consumable associated with Valentine’s Day. You’ll find plenty of romantic meals and sweet treats at GlobalGourmet.com’s Valentine’s Handbook, and there’s a whole world or organic, fair-trade chocolates to savor. So whatever you do, if you make your February 14 footprint a little (or a whole lot) greener than you did last year, we’ll all be feeling the love.