Developing sustainable, plastic-free solutions for the flower industry

全球切花产业的价值为228亿英镑（global \_Industry\_Analysts\_2020），英国切花产业的零售额为16亿英镑（NFU\_2016）。据估计，英国有14077名花商，他们销售的鲜花约占英国切花的25%。花店是典型的微型、业主经营的企业。低利润经营、开发新技术或采用更可持续的做法目前对许多人来说是遥不可及的。Larry Walshe是一家成立于2014年的豪华活动花店。在过去的6年里，我们已经建立了一个国内和国际知名的品牌，受英国王室和包括Stella McCartney在内的全球领先的英国品牌委托。然而，2019冠状病毒病对我们的业务造成了毁灭性的影响，由于国家和国际上禁止大规模聚会，婚礼被取消或推迟。大型活动的未来仍然高度不确定。为了应对COVID-19大流行，拉里·沃尔什（Larry Walshe）正在打造一项奢侈电子花卉业务，该业务将在面对未来潜在的全球动荡时提供弹性。我们的目标是“重建得更好”，成为英国第一家可持续、碳中和、无塑料的电子花店。我们已经为实现这一目标迈出了重要的一步：** *碳中和：**与碳信托合作，我们承诺测量我们的碳足迹，尽可能减少碳排放（例如，采购英国种植的鲜花），并抵消不可避免的排放。** *无塑料：**我们定制的插花用可回收材料包装，包括fsc认证的纸板。** *道德：**我们尽可能采购公平贸易花卉，确保花卉工人的安全和工作条件。然而，在发展我们可持续的电子花店产品时，我们遇到了一个主要障碍：每束花都免费提供花食品的塑料袋。花食在延长花瓶寿命方面起着至关重要的作用，最多可延长60%。然而，据估计，每年有8550亿个一次性塑料袋被丢弃（足以覆盖我们整个星球的表面），其中就有塑料花食品袋。我们估计，仅在欧洲，每年就有5亿个塑料花食品袋被花商分发出去。虽然这只占一次性香袋总量的一小部分，但作为一个依赖于自然之美的行业，我们对我们的地球负有责任，必须停止从不可持续的做法中获利。受新兴的无塑料生物基材料为应对全球塑料危机而开发的启发，我们开发了一种无塑料花卉食品袋的产品概念。在Innovate UK的支持下，我们建议与确定的生物基材料制造商合作，为我们的无塑料花食品袋达到实验概念验证阶段，这不仅提供了环保证书，而且在包容性设计原则的指导下提供了更好的可用性。项目结束后，我们计划在新的电子花艺业务中进一步开发和商业化我们的可持续花卉食品袋，同时也向世界各地的花店提供可持续的无塑料花卉食品袋。因此，该项目将展示英国在可持续包装方面的领导地位，并支持全球花卉行业向更可持续的未来过渡。留下了影响，而不是痕迹。

The global cut flower industry is valued at £22.8 billion(Global\_Industry\_Analysts\_2020), with the UK cut flower industry accounting for £1.6 billion of retail sales(NFU\_2016). There are an estimated 14,077 florists in the UK, responsible for selling approximately 25% of UK cut flowers. Florists are typically micro, owner-operated businesses. Operating on low margins, developing new technologies or adopting more sustainable practices is presently out of reach for many.Larry Walshe is a luxury events florist founded in 2014\. Over the last 6 years, we have built a nationally and internationally renowned brand, commissioned by Royal Households and globally leading British brands including Stella McCartney. However, COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on our business, with weddings cancelled or postponed as a result of national and international bans on large-scale gatherings. The future for large-scale events remains highly uncertain.In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Larry Walshe is building a luxury e-flowers business, which will deliver resilience in the face of potential future global disruption. Our ambition is to "build back better" and be the first UK-based sustainable, carbon-neutral, and plastic-free e-florist. We have already taken significant steps towards achieving this:* **Carbon-neutral:** Working with the Carbon Trust, we have committed to measure our carbon footprint, reducing carbon emissions wherever possible (e.g., sourcing UK-grown flowers), and offsetting unavoidable emissions.* **Plastic-free:** Our bespoke flower arrangements are instead packaged in recyclable materials, including FSC-certified cardboard.* **Ethical:** We source Fairtrade flowers wherever possible, which ensures safety and working conditions for flower workers.However, in developing our sustainable e-florist offering, we have come across one major hurdle: the plastic sachets of flower food, which are provided free with each bouquet of flowers. Flower food plays an essential role in prolonging vase life, by up to 60%. However, plastic flower food sachets contribute to the estimated 855 billion single-use sachets that are thrown away every year (enough to cover the entire surface of our planet). We estimate that 0.5 billion plastic flower food sachets are distributed each year solely by florists in Europe. Although this accounts for a small percentage of the total single-use sachets, as an industry that relies on the beauty of nature, we have a responsibility to our planet to stop profiting from unsustainable practices.Inspired by emerging plastic-free bio-based materials being developed in response to the global plastics crisis, we have developed a product concept for a plastic-free flower food sachet. With Innovate UK support, we propose to work with identified bio-based materials manufacturers to reach experimental proof-of-concept stage for our plastic-free flower food sachet, which delivers not just on its environmental credentials, but also offers improved usability, guided by inclusive design principles.Post-project, we plan to further develop and commercialise our sustainable flower food sachet within our new e-floristry business, but also to supply sustainable plastic-free flower food sachets to florists based across the world. Thus, this project will demonstrate UK leadership in sustainable packaging and support the global floristry industry to transition to a more sustainable future.Leaving an impact, not a trace.