Ah, Love! But at What Cost?
'Tis the season for love, chocolates, roses and Valentine's Day. Already, e-commerce platforms are advertising and promoting gifts for this occasion, reminding people that they need to buy a present for their loved ones. Although to be fair, nothing screams 'I love you' more than participating in this consumerist holiday :) Indeed, Valentine's day is one of the most wasteful and environmentally unsustainable days of the year, seeing as people all around the world take part in it to some degree. Even excluding the grander professions of love, a significant amount of waste is generated from this day alone. One of the more obvious sources of pollution includes plastic purchases such as helium balloons, glitter (a microplastic) and confetti which often end up as trash or in our oceans. Plastic Oceans International, an NGO dedicated to ending plastic pollution and raising worldwide awareness on sustainability, released a blog post detailing how long these common valentine's day gifts remain in the environment. For example, balloons and plastic wrappers take around 450-500 years to degrade. The author also revealed that on 14th Feb, CO2 emissions increase by 9 million kilograms, although the measurements are dubious and unsubstantiated by academic papers.
But perhaps for many of us, the most unsuspecting contributor to environmental harm is fresh-cut roses. Roses are often imported from other countries, travelling across continents to their destination. One large supplier of fresh-cut roses is Kenya, supplying as much as 35% of the European Union's flowers, and more to other parts of the world (Styles, 2019). Some major issues of the increased demand for roses include the fact that long-haul transportation of these roses through various modes (ship cargo, plane, etc.) contribute significantly to the carbon footprint. In order to preserve the freshness of these roses, large amounts of chemicals and refrigeration tanks are needed as well during the transportation process (Davidson, 2021). Apart from that, Floriculture itself is of concern in Kenya due to the social and environmental problems such as freshwater depletion at Lake Naivasha, where the flowers are grown. This affects the water availability for its locals and is highly unsustainable, especially since Kenya currently faces a water shortage. The exploitation of low-wage workers in the floriculture industry is also a pertinent social issue which is relatively under-adressed. Unfortunately, most consumers of Valentine's day products remain disconnected from the production processes of their goods, choosing to view this day through 'rose-tinted glasses'. But as Singaporeans, what can we do if we really want to purchase flowers? This guide by SG Magazine provides some useful tips and eco-friendly Valentine's day gift suggestions, although I'd much rather not celebrate this occasion knowing the costs now.
References:
Argüelles, S. (2021, February 15). Valentine’s Day and Plastic Pollution. Plastic Oceans International. https://plasticoceans.org/valentines-day-and-plastic-pollution/
Davidson, R. (2021, May 6). The environmental impact of cut flowers? Not so rosy. TED. https://ideas.ted.com/the-environmental-impact-of-cut-flowers-not-so-rosy/#:%7E:text=On%20top%20of%20pollutants%20and,miles%20in%20refrigerated%20airplane%20holds.
Styles, M. A. (2019). Roses from Kenya: Labor, Environment, and the Global Trade in Cut Flowers. University of Washington Press. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvs32sj5
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