A true man has to bring his wife flowers, and not only on Women's Day but a lot more often. How else can he express his love? It's the way many people think, including myself a few years ago. But when I found out the real cost of a single-cut flower to our environment and to the people who work in the industry, I didn't want them in my home. At the end of the article, you will find a list of gift ideas to give to a friend, wife, or mother who cares about the environment.

Due to the particularities of our climate, flowers do not yet bloom on the days we most give flowers - Valentine's Day, Women's Day, and Mother's Day. Flowers come to us from warmer countries. Tulips from Holland, roses from Kenya. It is roses that have the biggest footprint because they come to us by flight. In fact, 100% of roses grown in Kenya are sold for export.

A flower field in the Netherlands - beautiful, but at the cost of loss of biodiversity, pollution of waterways with pesticides and people contracting dangerous diseases.

AS MUCH PLANT PROTECTION PRODUCT AS POSSIBLE

Growing flowers is similar to growing for example sugar cane to produce disposable packaging. As it is not food, there is no limit to the amount of plant protection products that can be used. We can only imagine how many dangerous substances enter water bodies from such fields.

In addition, of course, sooner or later, these substances also enter the human body. For example, various pesticides have been found in the urine of florists.

In addition to hazardous substances, the issue is also linked to ethics. After all, it is not right to use Ethiopian farmland to grow flowers or disposable packaging when half of humanity is starving. Here is an excellent episode that explains the problem.

BUT TULIPS GROWN IN ESTONIA?

At first glance, it seems like a good choice! But in fact, the bulbs of those tulips come still from Holland, where they are, of course, properly fertilized. After growing, the flower is cut off and the bulb is thrown away. Sadly, this makes it a 100% disposable product.

SLEEPING ROSES - HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?

All things are possible, but sleeping roses, which have become a big trend recently, are certainly not environmentally friendly. Inno Joonas, Director of the University of Floristics, explains: "Actually, colors are sucked in to process the flower, in addition to chemical substances that dry it out and leave it in the right shape."

*These roses only sleep thanks to a lot of chemicals.*

If you really want to gift flowers, I recommend you lift the trash bin of flower shops after the big holidays. Sadly, the garbage bins are overflowing with unsold flowers.

WHAT TO GIVE TO YOUR LOVED ONE?

The key words are quality time and experiences and reducing the purchase of THINGS.

A walk or hike in nature
Some exciting workshops together
Donate to Ukraine or another important cause.
Romantic dinner at a restaurant
Cook a special dinner yourself
Go together to the theatre or a concert
A promise to complete a work in progress (fix the pipe, mow the lawn)
A promise to take over one household chore for a year.
Read at least one article on the Feminist website.
If you are giving a chocolate gift, choose a FairTrade labelled product.

If you want to surprise the whole office full of women, here are some ideas: a donation to an important cause, a cosmetics workshop (see www.orreke.ee), a delicious meal prepared by the male staff, or even a piece of music performed by the whole office!