Green Wedding|Celebration|Alternative Weddings|Eco-wedding

Green Weddings -
Adding an element of "sustainability" to your relationship.


It doesn't have to be New Age, or involve dances before Gaia (although it could...). Making a commitment to becoming life partners is a statement of relational integrity. An engagement or wedding is or should be an affirmation of what each individual in the union has become in her/his life and for what they can become for each other, together, in the future. It makes sense that the symbols and rituals incorporate the best elements of the beliefs and values that the couple hold in common.

Many couples are foregoing diamonds as a symbol of engagement, based upon the diamond trade's roots in civil war and destabilization in Africa. Others are refusing to enter into the "gift registry" merchandizing bonanza promoted by the big department stores. Folks we know, who are concerned about the suspect pedigree (and expense) of imported cut flowers are using flowers and foliage they have grown themselves or are buying from local farms - a practice we heartily encourage.

We offer a sustainable alternative to couples who want their weddings/celebrations to reflect their beliefs: the Green Wedding. We are very happy to sit with you and discuss the amazing assortment of locally grown and/or Fair Trade organic cut flowers or plants that can be used in our designs. Our consultations become a brainstorming session on the ways that a celebration can make use of (elegant!) recycled or recyclable products - from Fair Trade certified and/or organic flowers to paper goods to the wedding dress itself.

Give us a call at either shop, Encke or Tiger Lily, and we'll be happy to talk "green".
201-836-1276 or 201-287-1800
http://www.tigerlilyflowershop.net/

Tulip Mania and Speculative Bubbles (the undeserving tulip)

Most students of economics know that capitalism was born in the Netherlands during the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Holland, in fact, birthed the world's first commodity futures market, and logically, the world's first speculative bubble. The commodity that caused a financial frenzy wasn't gold, silver, tobacco or silk.

It was the tulip.

Tulips were highly valued and sought after as symbols of affluence. Because their bulbs reproduced cloned buds and could be dug up and transported at the end of their season, their "futures" could be traded and speculated upon. In 1636, a highly prized variety of tulip was discovered and cultivated (it was infected with a mosaic virus that gave the flower brilliant striations of color). During a lull in the 30 Years War, the French entered the tulip market, and the bidding on the mosaic-infected varieties took off. The price of the bulbs at its height was 150 times the average yearly earnings for a skilled craftsman or guild member (they formed the majority of speculators). The frenzy became known as the Tulip Mania of 1636, and the flower has become a symbol of rampant speculative fever ever since.

In our era, the symbol should no longer be the undeserving tulip. It rightfully should be the Bush.

Flowers for your broker...

Yesterday we ran a

"Wall Street Bail-out Special."
Free* flowers.

(*Your children will pay for them later...)


Today's sale:

Hardy* Mums: $7.99 (or 2.2 Euros)
* "fundamentally strong..."

How do main street businesses respond to Wall Street crises? On Monday morning, the streets of suburban Teaneck were like a ghost town. I imagined everyone at home, hiding under their blankets, wondering if the news anchors were going to go on the air and just announce that The Great Depression II has now begun. It won't happen like that, of course - anymore than the Crash of '29 was signalled by brokers leaping from office building windows.

This is Reaganomics coming home to roost. And what a dirty, pestilential flock of birds it is.

How do like deregulation now? It's a technicolor example of privatized profit and socialized debt. Keep government out of the affairs of business - until, of course, it comes time to pull their miserable, bloated selves out of the gutter. But this is not just "corporate greed" or something endemic only to Wall Street. It's structural. It is the logic of capitalism itself. Which is why the answers must also be structural, and they must adhere to an entirely different kind of logic: people (including future generations of people) before profits. Just a thought.

Sources of Fair Trade Flowers

At the bottom of this post you'll find a list of contacts that was provided to me by Kazuko Golden of TransFairUSA. Kazuko leads TransFairUSA's group trying to develop and promote sources of Fair Trade cut flowers in the US.

As we've noted in past posts, the US is way behind Europe, where an increasing percentage of cut flowers are Fair Trade certified. (Half of the roses sold in Switzerland are FTC.) Every retail florist that begins to sell Fair Trade Certified/Organic cut flowers becomes part of a larger, crucial effort to educate the US public about sustainability - economic and environmental. This will be a transitional process that will surely gather momentum, just as the Fair Trade movement has gained traction in the coffee market. Aside from being the manifestly right thing to do, I am sure that it will also prove to be profitable for retail florists as our customers become more knowledgeable. It is an easy step to take from comprehending fair trade related to food and coffee to cut flowers.

Our experience in selling FTC gifts in our shops in Teaneck (a moderately progressive, but by no means radical town) is that our patrons have generally heard of Fair Trade, even if they cannot articulate a complete definition. They like and admire the idea, and have expressed a preference to buy fair trade when there is a choice. This can be one more reason to come to your retail florist as opposed to buying flowers at the local supermarket or Costco.

(As I write this, I am watching a woman crossing the street in front of our store, holding a ready-made bouquet she bought at the local butcher shop...) We're in a tough business.

If you're ever in the NY/NJ metro area, please visit us at our shops:

Encke Flowers
281 Queen Anne Road, Teaneck

or Tiger Lily
569 Cedar Lane, Teaneck

Anyway, here's the list:

Jessica Bergna
EcoFlowers/Organic Bouquet
http://www.ecoflowers.com/
jbergna@ecoflowers.com

Edin Maslesa
Fall River Florist Supply
Direct Line 508-742-1846
Mobile 781-956-5012
Fax 508-672-1433
http://www.fallriverfloristsupply.com/

Perez, Sharon M.
World Flowers, USA Incorporated
przshar@aol.com
(863) 214-5202

Alaina Paradise
One World Flowers, Incorporated
aparadise@oneworldflowers.org
(505) 304-7458

Mr. Diego PadronAsociación de Comercio Equitativo
0-11-593 2 2441113
drpadron@hotmail.com


Hortensia Ulvrri
InBloom Group LLC
(305) 436-0030
hortensia@inbloomgroup.com

TransFairUSA

I just want to share with you the most significant organization committed to Fair Trade in this country: TransFairUSA. Be sure to visit their website (http://transfairusa.org) and access their many resources - from basic FAQs to in-depth academic position papers, to activist tools, the TransFair website has it. There is also a fairly complete listing of stores, coops, and web commerce sites for fair trade goods, including flowers. We will hopefully be included on this list soon. (There is a vetting process to ensure that retailers are on the level.)

Take a look at their site, including this Flash presentation:

http://transfairusa.org/content/feature.php

It is great to know TransFairUSA is out there. Check them out, and don't forget to make a donation!

(The photo on the right is shown courtesy of TransFairUSA.)

If you're in Bergen County, stop by one of our shops - Tiger Lily on Cedar Lane or Encke Flowers on Queen Anne Road and talk with us about Fair Trade.

Where to Find Organic Flowers (in Teaneck!?)

There's always the Thursday Farmers Market. Farmers Markets are, of course, seasonal and the selections (if there are any) are hit-and-miss. Sometimes you can score some righteous sunflowers, or sweet william, black-eyed susans, lavendar, and of course, herbs. Most times there are no flowers to be found. We love our local growers (Encke Flowers began as grower in Bogota, NJ back in 1906...) but for us, the closest source of organic flowers is Lawrenceville, NJ - just outside Philadelphia. That's a four-hour drive round-trip from Teaneck with the A/C running full blast in the back of the van.

If I can't/won't do this kind of floral beer-run on a regular basis, I can order from organic wholesalers such as EcoFlowers, based in California. I applaud their foresight and efforts. They've been sowing organic cut flower seeds for a few years, and I hope they reap the benefits. I have one big issue, though, which is if I order their cut flowers, they are cooled, boxed, and sent FedEx Overnight by jet and van, with a hefty delivery charge per box. I have to pass this on to my customers as a sort of "organic" fuel surcharge. See the contradiction?

Here's the problem: with the exodus of flower cultivation to Colombia, Ecuador and other places with 365-day growing seasons and exploited labor, folks like us who are interested in buying and selling organic cut flowers and plants have very few sources. Wholesalers in the US haven't caught up to their European counterparts. We're going to make this a personal mission.

I'm challenging my local wholesalers to find us some Veriflora certified, organic and Fair Trade certified lines of flowers. Aside from being the right thing to do on so many levels, I think it will be profitable for them in the very near future. We're working to educate our customers, and it will be a matter of time before a demand exists for "green" flowers in the US. I wrote to my wholesaler today, and I will share his response.

Meanwhile, you can find organic flower and fair trade gifts at our two shops: Tiger Lily Flowers on Cedar Lane, and Encke Flowers and Gifts on Queen Anne Road in Teaneck, NJ. Visit us on the web at www.enckeflorist.com

Why Buy Organic Flowers?|Organic Alternatives|Green Weddings

There are many reasons to buy organic flowers and plants when you can. Let's take a look at some of them:

1. The same reasons you would buy organic milk or vegetables applies to flowers. Maybe even moreso. Along with the reduction in toxic pesticides in the food chain (and our bodies), organic cultivation practices reduce the amount of petroleum based inputs used in farming. Petroleum is the primary source for pesticides and fertilizers.

2. Organic flowers address the core purpose of organic production: to enrich the earth rather than deplete it. Your purchase of organic flowers and food encourages more growers to convert to organic practices and to reduce toxic chemical usage in the world!

3. Pesticides and other toxic chemicals used on flowers can affect the health of farm workers and florists. Without the proper protection, the toxic chemicals can spread onto the clothes and into the bodies of farm workers which in turn can increase exposure to their children. Cut flower workers in Colombia and Ecuador (the principle floral export countries) are subjected to toxic doses of pesticides on a routine basis. Lax environmental and health controls in these countries is part of what makes their export business profitable. Florists on the other end of the producrtion chain who handle non-organic flowers have been known to develop dermatitis on their hands.

4. Buying organic flowers helps support local organic farming communities and organizations, which often have charitable, philanthropic motives for selling their flowers.

5. Organic flowers, according to many people, are more fragrant and last longer than non-organic ones.

6. The toxic chemicals used on flower farms can poison groundwater and the soil. These chemicals also become part of the food chain, as animals such as birds will eat the sprayed plants.

7. Through evaporation, toxic pesticides and fertilizers that are sprayed on flower farms end up in the atmosphere. They then travel to other global areas to fall as rain or snow.

8. Every flower counts: Increasing sales of certified organic flowers gives the market notice that more organic flowers need to be grown, which makes more flower farms convert to using organic agricultural methods.

A Green Wedding?

If you are planning your wedding, why not make it a "green" wedding? Make it organic! If you're in New Jersey or the New York City area, we would be happy to consult with you on how to do this. Call us at 201.287.1800 or visit us on the web at http://www.enckeflorist.com/.