No Floral Foam

Here’s the honest truth: the majority of florists create their arrangements in foam. At the end of your reception, all of the flowers, along with the non-biodegradable and carcinogenic foam, goes into the trash. Before you think it, no, it doesn’t lessen the value of paying for flowers because most of them are thrown out after your wedding. The flowers served their purpose of being beautiful during your wedding, now their job is done. But that doesn’t mean they should be tossed in the dumpster with poison foam.

Florists create an obscene amount of garbage. All of the flowers are delivered to us in cardboard boxes. Vases and candle holders come shipped in boxes surrounded by styrofoam packing material. Every 25 stem bunch of roses has two plastic sleeves and four pieces of cardboard. It gets overwhelming.

A small thing all of us florists can do is try our best to not use floral foam. Floral foam is incredibly harmful to the environment. It’s carcinogenic and non-biodegradable. For as long as time, it was used as a florist’s main source of water for the flowers. For some situations, it’s necessary. But for a lot of designs, there are other mechanics that we can use that are reusable and better for the earth.

I’ve tried in the last few years to avoid using floral foam if possible. I’ll design something, like these compotes, with the precursor thought that I don’t want to use foam. I’ll design installations, like the La Croix one below, knowing that I would prefer to use chicken wire and water tubes instead of foam. Without foam, installations are actually a lot lighter and airier. We can get a loose, natural look without having to depend on where the foam is to put the flowers.

This entry way design was created without foam as well. It’s amazing what some chicken wire and water tubes can accomplish! The chicken wire and tubes can be reused – thus saving the environment and saving us money. Win-win.

This chuppah below was foam free as well. A lot of flowers, especially for short events like indoor weddings, will last throughout the night without a direct water source. You’d be amazed how long a well-hydrated rose or carnation can look out of water for six hours.

I employ all of my fellow florists to try and go without floral foam for your next event. Try to think of designs that won’t need floral foam in the first place. We here at Michelle Edgemont Design try our best to make smart choices for the environment. Hell, I even started carrying a reusable straw in my purse because those new, hip, paper ones fall apart.

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