[old stone structures on one of my favorite hikes with nea]
that's all.
I just want things to stay the same, and for the next generation to be able to experience nature in the same way that we did. but shits just not going to pan out that way and we have to think about it sometime.
saw the new woody allen movie last night, have you seen it? it's about time travel and is worth it for the adorable portrayals of hemingway, gertrude stein, dali, man ray... yada yada yada
but today, reading this great article in the OP ed section and thinking about the movie last night. i came to an interesting cross section in my brain; we have to let go of living in the past. we have to take the future into our own hands right now. what does that mean exactly I'm not sure. when I get wrapped up in thinking about the environment and my own contributions to the problem I get overwhelmed. let me tell you the flower business is far far far from green.
i've been saving tin foil. and plastic wrap. which makes me feel sort of crazy. actually i broke the crazy limit a few weeks ago when I carried an old bucket of flower water down 2 flights of stairs at a fancy upper east side club to the ladies room to flush the toilet with it. actually i was in the stall and automatically flushed without thinking. then almost I almost cried because i wasted the water.
sounds wacky, but shits going to get real like that i think. pay per flush sort of thing.
go read that article, it's more optimistic than you'd think.
and this is the most i ever want to use the words toilet and flush with you.
15 comments:
That is such a beautiful, magical photo
Every time some grocery chain or drugstore threatens to start charging for plastic bags and people flip the fuck out and accuse them of threatening their very way of life, and every time the girl at C-Town willfully ignores my request not to give me a bag and I have to pull everything out of it and shove it back at her in a crumpled mess while everyone in line glares at me, I die a little inside. I wish people would just WAKE THE FUCK UP.
I don't want the earth to get hotter either. Hmmm. We have so much work ahead of us.
Probably the most impactful thing YOU personally could do to help the environment is buy your blooms/foliage locally and from farmers who use responsible growing practices. Schlepping flowers half way across the world is the norm but it is so freaking wasteful. Talk about fossil fuel down the toilet, not to mention the enormous amounts of chemicals they coat the flowers with regularly in third world countries. If you dig a little into the issue and see the rates of birth defects and miscarriages in flower field workers (70% women) in S. America.... it will break your heart.
There are a number of super cool florists who have made the bold commitment to buy local, seasonal and sustainable material for their work.
Famous chefs are doing it all over the world. Partnering with farmers, building their daily pallet around what is in season and at the height of perfection on the farm. Many of them are wicked famous and hugely powerful now!
I totally get how difficult it can be to balance the desires of brides and not kill the earth. I've been plugging away at it for some time but I tell ya, it's catching on like wildfire! Seriously, about 90% of our brides this year have uttered the words seasonal and local. Gasp!
With the amount of money you spend every year on flowers and the amount of press you regularly get for being so talented and outside of the box, you could make a serious difference in the way things go in this industry. Think Pied Piper
Screw the tin foil hoarding ... you can ACTUALLY do something to help the earth..
This stuff bums me out so much but you know pay-per-flush is gonna happen.
Unrelated: I think that photo of Nea would make a great album cover.
Bingo: What Floret Flowers said. As a past wedding client & regular customer, I would be in wild support of this re-invention for Saipua.
No; I get you. I'm insane when it comes to saving water. I think it should be priced higher than gasoline. We have a new hot water heating system and it takes forever for water to heat up, so I got a bucket that I can catch all the water in while I run it until it gets hot. Running it down the drain makes me want to cry. And these are supposed to be "earth friendly" houses and no one seems to think there's anything wrong with the amount that goes down the drain just waiting for hot water. At least I'm doing my best to use that "wasted" water by collecting it for watering plants, washing lettuce, ANYTHING. I've also lugged it around with me to flush MY toilets, too.
As a designer, I sympathize. Just yesterday I was helping out in the prep room and was astounded by how much paper was used to pack a standing order of stock. Ugh. And I'm sure the prep girls think I'm bat shit crazy when I walk a vase of water back and say "I only used this for an hour, can you reuse?" Keep fighting the good fight...It's hard here in Ohio!
OK, I don't feel so out there for saving my food scraps, lint, and cardboard and bringing to someone else's house because they had a compost bin and I wasn't allowed to have one! I've also wackily bought American Spirit smokes, guiltily had a few, and then threw out the filters. The paper and tobacco I furtively placed in the said compost bin :0
I'm pretty good at conserving water. Our new place has 2 long unused and slimy rain barrels that I intend to clean and use. If I could get my tots to stop flushing the toilets for fun, that would be something. Geez, even our Finnish relatives won't waste water even though they're surrounded by it on all sides. We Americans are a wasteful lot.
You're doing wonderfully filling the world up with achingly beautiful floral arrangements. In my view, that just may offset the long distance shipping of flowers. :)
Cheers to you,
and still hoping to win an arrangement for my in-laws living in shoot-out Brighton Beach!
Nicole Milman
http://heilandstark.wordpress.com/
check this out for fresh takes on the situation, re-use instead of recycle.
You're right, it's hard not to get overwhelmed by trying to save the world all by yourself. Tis the road to utter madness. I like to think there are enough of us doing our own little crazy things to make a difference.
Excellent blog entry!
Thanks for this post, Sarah. When I worked in flowers I also had so many personal dilemmas with the waste and chemicals and general attitude of disregard towards any thoughts of sustainability. It was all about perfection- at any cost...
I'm glad you are questioning this and doing your best to make beauty with a conscious.
I have to say now that I'm in Environmental Education, it's a whole new world to try to get kids hip to the ways of this new world and to love the land we inhabit. Right now I'm working on teacher education to get them comfortable using gardens as outdoor classrooms. So much work ahead of us- but it's truly exhilarating...
I was and reuse wraps and bags and foils... Thank you for letting me know I am not alone :)
xo
a
In my view everybody must go through it.
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