Graduation Year
2023
Document Type
Open Access Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Environmental Analysis
Reader 1
Susan Phillips
Reader 2
Nancy Macko
Terms of Use & License Information
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Rights Information
© 2023 Addie Wasikonis
Abstract
The commercial cut flower industry is an expansive network of growers, laborers, airlines, government workers, wholesalers, retailers, supermarkets, and florists, which deliver a crafted bouquet to the consumer for those special occasions. We often buy flowers during our weekly trip to the supermarket, call our local florist for an arrangement, or make a last-minute order online to be shipped within hours. For this demand to be supplied, the cut flower industry has spread to equator-localized countries where the labor is cheap, the land is plentiful, and the sun shines all year round in order to grow any type of flower at any point in the year. With that comes obscene amounts of pesticides, greenhouse gas emissions during travel, and risks to worker health. This thesis will look at the environmental and social costs of the commercial cut flower industry and propose an alternative solution: the slow flower movement. The slow flower movement is a sustainable alternative where consumers buy their flowers from local flower farmers where there are fewer pesticides used, if any, less emissions and resources used, and fewer “flower miles.” Plus, it is an opportunity to connect the consumer to the grower. To accompany this thesis, I created an elevated children’s style book to educate consumers about the flower’s journey and encourage consumers to make conscientious choices when buying flowers.
Recommended Citation
Wasikonis, Addie, "From Bloom to Bouquet: Unearthing the Toxic Cut Flower Industry" (2023). Pitzer Senior Theses. 184.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/pitzer_theses/184
