Ask 1 800 Flowers to Offer Fair Trade Flowers That Aren't Picked By Exploited Workers

[beac]

Please take a minute to sign this petition (and, if you have 2 minutes, pass it on.) :)

Ask 1 800 Flowers to Offer Fair Trade Flowers That Aren't Picked By Exploited Workers

http://www.change.org/petitions/ask-1-800-flowers-to-offer-fair-trade-flowers-that-arent-picked-by-exploited-workers

[sasha031]

1. done, better to order flowers locally

I think 1 800 Flowers advertises with Beck.

[beac]

4. Gah! Then, they are even worse than I thought.

:puke:

[Buzz Clik]

9. It's difficult to ensure that local flowers are grown locally.

It is so cheap to grow flowers in Central America and ship them up that local growers cannot compete. Local florists have become mere distributors.

[Brickbat]

2. Or support from Organic Bouquet, which IME has a pretty good record with such things.

http://www.organicbouquet.com/Product/CertDisplay.aspx#Fair%20Trade%20Certified%E2%84%A2

Some of their products are Fair Trade Certified. I have used them several times to send flowers to people and the results have always been stunning, for comparable prices.

[beac]

3. Indeed better to use a seller that is ALREADY fair-trade certified, but good to put 1-800 on

notice about this too.

Link to Organic Bouquet for other readers of the thread:
http://www.organicbouquet.com/

:)

[WatsonT]

5. Or forgo

Buying flowers entirely.

They aren't that hard to grow and it's a lot of money to spend on dead vegetation.

[beac]

6. Still not a bad idea to sign the petition, even if you aren't sending any flowers.

Encouraging businesses to behave better is never a waste of time, IMO. :)



(edited for typo)

[WatsonT]

7. Not sending them my money

will probably have more of an impact.

[beac]

8. Why not do both (sign AND don't spend) and increase your impact?

:shrug:

[WatsonT]

12. Fair enough

I'm just pretty skeptical of the effect petitions without economic backing have on companies.

[niyad]

10. I take it you don't send, or give flowers?

would say welcome to DU. .but,. . .

[WatsonT]

13. Not at all

I don't purchase flowers in general.

However I love to grow them and give those out to people. Gardening is one of my hobbies. Same goes with whatever vegetables I'm able to grow.

Granted it makes it impossible to give out flowers on valentines day what with it being winter and all. But I can live with that.

[niyad]

19. you could always grow them indoors

[WatsonT]

20. Yeah

but A) it's not a huge deal to me, I enjoy flowers in the spring, not in the winter and B) I have ferrets. They view dirt in pots as something that is really better off spread in a thin even layer over the entire house. Also plants need to be killed and dragged under the bed. No more indoor plants for me.

[niyad]

11. thank you for the information

[lapislzi]

14. Know your grower/importer/middle person

I'm a floral designer and I have cultivated (see what I did there?) a close relationship with my grower in South America. She is scrupulously honest, and, although I have yet to visit her, I take her at her word that her labor force doesn't employ child labor or exploit workers in any way. I pay a little extra, make a little less, and sleep better at night. And my grower has a customer for life.

[beac]

17. Brava, lapislzi!

:applause: Thank you for choosing to spend a little more to use flowers that are ethically grown! :applause:

[Omaha Steve]

15. I just got the email and was going to post

K&R!

[beac]

16. Thanks, OS!

:)

[Chimichurri]

18. John and Chris McCann are both staunch republicans so it doesn't surprise

me.