Roses For Valentine’s Day

Ever wondered the climate impact of your Valentine’s Day flowers? Well, a traditional rose bouquet is responsible for nearly 30kg of CO2, according to research from Lancaster University. To put this in context if you splashed out and opted for the 24-rose bouquet you are responsible for the same number of emissions as flying one way from London to Paris!

How could this be the case? Well, 20% of the roses sold in February are grown in Dutch hothouses, with most of the remaining flowers being flown in from Kenya and Ethiopia. With Europe selling roughly 200 million roses for Valentine’s Day, the carbon impact adds up quickly to around 500k of CO2 annually, matching the carbon footprint of 48,000 Irish people a year.

Don’t worry if you haven’t picked up your flowers just yet, data shows that florist spending in Ireland peaks between 4-5pm…Loads of time!

Source: Financial Times, AIB, EPA, GoodBody