Smallridges Florist
Florist
Holland Walk, Barnstaple
Owner: Ali Trankle
Actions to date:
The difficulty for a florist is that when dealing with plants, or some flower arrangements, a water-proof option is often needed. So, it’s difficult at the moment to move completely away from plastic. However, Smallridges have made the following changes:
Wrap flowers in paper instead of cellophane (unless specifically requested)
Hand-ties include a ‘bubble’ of water, but now include an option to use a container made of recycled plastic which can also be recycled, instead of the usual cellophane version. It is more expensive, but Smallridges will be promoting it more in future.
The cellophane collars to the hand-ties are being replaced with paper.
Using more raffia, instead of poly-tie ribbons. Also looking at fabric ribbons instead of plastic versions.
Also now using more substantial paper wrapping, with a wider range of decorative papers. Paper also has the benefit of making flowers more attractive, so it looks more like a gift from the offset.
Flowers often arrive from suppliers wrapped in paper, which Smallridges reuse in their packaging. Plastic buckets used to supply other flowers are reused in the shop.
Recycle cardboard (their main recyclable waste).
Working on:
Reducing cellophane use, especially as stocks run down.
Replacing, as far as possible, plastic bags with paper.
“We’re all getting more aware, from TV and Facebook, of how much we’re all littering up the world. Knowing how long it takes for the plastic rubbish to decompose, means we all need to do our bit.
After all, we should be able to manage without plastic – because we used to! In our grandparent’s time, everything was wrapped in paper, so it shouldn’t be too difficult to go back to that!”