This Valentine’s Day, we are looking at the highly problematic consumption of red roses and what can be done about it.
It is the symbol of love and romance, the famous red rose.
In the week leading up to the day marketed as the day of love, the UK imports tens of millions of roses, as on the 14th of February, roses are not in season at this time of the year.
This is, of course, not just exclusive to the UK, but as Valentine’s Day is now a global phenomenon, the day of love is increasingly becoming a sustainability and climate problem.
If Ukraine is Europe’s breadbasket, then the Netherlands is the UK’s rose basket, as the get 80% of its roses from the country across the North Sea.
But remarkably, the carbon footprint for a rose grown across the pond is almost the same as that of another big rose exporter, a quarter round the planet in Kenya.
The English rose
Depending on the weather that year, a rose grown in the UK can have two flowering periods, generally occurring between late May and Early June, and then, for the lucky ones, another in August-September. This picture is roughly the same for most of the Northern Hemisphere. In fact, you will be hard pressed for the rose to be in season in February in most growing regions in the world.
Snapshot of the carbon footprints of roses
A bouquet produced in the Netherlands, including five roses, = 32.252kg/CO”
The equivalent in Kenya = 31.312kg/CO2
A British bouquet using alternatives grown in the UK = 3.287kg/CO2
A locally grown bouquet with 15 stems of outdoor-grown flowers = 1.71kg/CO2
The emissions of the Dutch-produced rose are this high due to the energy costs for producing it in heated greenhouses.
In Kenya, no artificial heating is needed, but the air miles needed to transport it to the UK drive up the emissions.
The alternative
Based on the figures in 2025, it is estimated that 10 million roses will be imported to the UK from abroad for this year’s Valentine’s Day.
The UK horticultural charity, the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), recommends that people taking part in Valentine’s Day, instead of the traditional rose, opt for these seasonal and more sustainable alternatives.
Anders Lorenzen is the founding Editor of A greener life, a greener world.
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