When we first wrote about this, we were still working towards removing the last conventional single-use plastic from the way we wrap and send flowers. That work is now part of everyday life at Gardenia: our retail flower packaging is 100% home compostable and plastic-free.
What we mean by home compostable
We try to be precise with sustainability claims. “Eco-friendly” can mean almost anything, so we would rather explain exactly what we use and what you can do with it afterwards.
The packaging around our retail flowers has been chosen so it can either be reused, recycled at home or composted at home, depending on the component. That includes the materials we use to wrap, secure and protect flowers in transit.
What is in our flower packaging?
Natural twine. We use 100% natural Nutscene twine, made in Scotland from plant fibres. It can be reused or home composted.
Natural rubber bands. Our rubber bands are made from natural rubber and can be reused or home composted.
Branded wrapping paper and flower sleeves. Our wrapping paper is FSC-certified, uncoated paper, while our Bloomguard sleeves are made from natural paper stock and printed with water-based inks. Depending on the component, they can be home composted or recycled at home.
Paper tape. Our branded tape is made from FSC-certified paper and can be home composted or recycled.
Flower hydration pouches. These are designed specifically for transporting cut flowers and can be home composted.
Flower food sachets. The flower food dissolves in water and the paper sachet can be composted or recycled at home.
Why packaging mattered to us
Flowers need protecting. The challenge was never simply to remove packaging altogether; it was to find materials that still did the practical job properly without defaulting to conventional plastic.
That matters in a busy working flower shop. Bouquets need to survive handling, collection and delivery, water needs to stay where it is meant to, and the flowers still need to arrive looking as they should. A sustainable alternative only works if it also works operationally.
Packaging is not the same as wedding mechanics
This distinction is important. Our retail flower packaging is the wrapping and protective material used around bouquets and other flowers leaving the shop. That is where our 100% home-compostable, plastic-free claim applies.
Wedding and event mechanics are different. Some floral designs require wire, containers, structural supports, magnets or other specialist materials to make them safe and secure. We design those mechanics to be as sustainable and reusable as practical, but it would be misleading to claim that every material used inside every wedding or event installation is home compostable or plastic-free.
We would rather make that distinction clearly than overstate the claim.
What happens to our green waste?
Packaging is only one part of the picture. All of our floral green waste is collected in specialist compostable paper sacks and processed through COM:POST, where it is turned into compost for the agriculture and horticulture sectors.
Sustainability is broader than wrapping flowers
We also look at how flowers are grown and sourced, who we buy from, how waste is handled and the impact our choices have on people as well as the planet. We buy through a network of growers, wholesalers and specialist suppliers and choose according to quality, season, provenance and availability.
My visit to flower farms in Kenya made that particularly tangible. Seeing the scale of growing first-hand, together with the standards around water, production and people, changed the way I think about the journey behind each stem. You can read that piece here: Where our flowers come from: what I saw in Kenya.
Petals. Planet. Promise.
We group this work under Petals. Planet. Promise. It is our way of keeping flowers, environmental responsibility and people connected rather than treating sustainability as a separate marketing exercise.
You can read more about the materials we use and the partners we work with on our Planet page, or see the broader picture on Petals. Planet. Promise.
