Sorry, Ladies, you'll have to do without flowers on Valentine's day. - 14-Feb-07 - Generational Dynamics

Generational Dynamics Web Log for 14-Feb-07

Sorry, Ladies, you'll have to do without flowers on Valentine's day.

They're bad for global warming, for the environment and for you.

First off, if you're going to buy flowers, you should buy African flowers, according to UK's International Development Secretary Hilary Benn, who notes that Kenya is the world's largest flower exporter:

"People want to buy ethically and do their bit for climate change, but often don't realise that they can support developing countries and reduce carbon emissions.

Recent research shows that flowers flown from Africa can use less energy overall than those produced in Europe because they're not grown in heated greenhouses.

So, this Valentine's day, you can be a romantic, reduce your environmental impact and help make poverty history.

This is about social justice and making it easier, not harder, for African people to make a decent living."

Maybe so, but ANY Valentine's bouquet is "bad for the planet," according to Andrew Sims, the policy director of the New Economics Foundation, an environmental group.

"Air freighting flowers half way round the world contributes to global warming," he said. "You can argue the planes would be flying anyway but the amount of greenhouse gases pumped out depends on the weight of the cargo."

So unless you grow flowers yourself, forget flowers, ladies.

But what about Americans? The second largest flower exporter is the Netherlands, and third is Colombia. Colombia isn't so far away, and they produce 62% of all flowers sold in the United States. Can't we give those flowers for Valentine's Day?

According to Time Magazine's online site, the answer is no.

Colombian flowers, it turns out, are loaded with toxic chemicals, so that they'll still be "fresh" when the guy presents them to his loved one. The chemicals are various pesticides and fungicides, to keep away the different kinds of pests and fungi.

Now, we know how important it is for each of us to worry about global warming. The way we know that is that Europeans keep telling us how evil America is for not ratifying the Kyoto Treaty, even though Europeans have done almost nothing to reduce emissions, and just want to bash Americans.

And, of course, China will soon be the world's greatest contributor to global warming, but that's beside the point too.

So ladies, do your part, and tell you husbands and boyfrieds to absolutely not give you flowers.

Hey it might work out OK -- maybe you'll get a diamond instead! (14-Feb-07) Permanent Link
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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 14-Feb-07 Sorry, Ladies, you'll have to do without flowers on Valentine's day.

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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 14-Feb-07
Sorry, Ladies, you'll have to do without flowers on Valentine's day.