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The Cost of Going Green Where you live can affect your efforts |
| Written by Rebecca Schwarz | |
In Toronto, the country’s largest city is a surprisingly green place to do business. “The city brought out Green Bin Program for commercial users in 2002,” explains Lynn Martin Freeman of Martin’s, The Flower People, in Toronto. The green bins are used to discard organic materials and help divert these materials – for free – from landfills. Each bin holds 35 gallons. We had to purchase the bins for $63.25 each, but then pickup twice a week is free. We also have the Blue Box program,” says Freeman. Toronto also boasts another colour in its environmentally friendly rainbow: the Yellow Bag Program. This initiative also began in 2002 as a way of making commercial businesses financially accountable for the waste they create and to encourage businesses to cut down on trash. “The Yellow Bag Program was introduced at the same time as the Green Bins. We have to pay $3.10 per bag, so we’re careful about what goes in it! By the time we have separated out paper, Blue Box items, cardboard and organics, it’s mostly cellophane and plastic wrap in the yellow bag.” So does all this reasonably priced support from the city actually help Freeman reduce and recycle? “We find that the green product backs up a little at busy times, especially at Christmas, because we can only use the four bins that we own. But we are quite pleased with the program. Before the Green Bin, we set four to six green bags out twice a week for the landfill. Now sometimes we only have one yellow bag. That feels better!” It helps that most of Freeman’s clients care about the environment. “Many of our local customers would be horrified to take something home in a plastic bag – they are very environmentally aware. Some will just take the flowers tied together with a ribbon.” Grace Graham, Floral Designer at Visions from the Heart in Hamilton, Ont., echoes this sentiment. “When we opened Visions from the Heart in 2005, we were thinking green,” she says. “We try to do as much as possible just with paper wrapping. In winter when our flowers need to be protected from the cold with plastic, we remove it upon delivery, and recycle for as long as possible.” Graham’s shop has gone a step further and completely eliminated plastic bags, restricting themselves to paper only. However, she does have a major beef with her municipality. “In terms of composting, I am at a disadvantage, as my property owner has a bin for our waste. I called the city to obtain a green cart and they were not available for the city core.” She’s not alone. Michael Maroun, owner of Lotherington’s Flowers & Gifts in Sydney, N.S., is fed up with his municipality’s laissez-faire approach. “There’s not a lot of resources in the community. The municipality will tell you to separate your organics from regular garbage but they give you nothing to do it with. Who is going to pay for the extra bin? It’s your responsibility. That’s really costly for a small business. And where would we put it? Most of our waste is organic. They said they could give us one of the green recycling bins. We’d be filling them every half hour. They are really not making it easy for us.” To make matters worse, he pays for recycling pickup at $200 a bin. So Maroun does what he can to reduce waste. “We encourage people to recycle the baskets and vases we send out and we take them back. People are pretty good that way.” Donna Friesen, owner of Page Florist in Kenora, Ont., is also unable to compost, but she does recycle. “We do recycle cardboard; you can drive it to the recycling plant outside of town, five bucks for a truckload full. But now they have been coming downtown, they pick it up from the street at no fee. There is a recycling depot where you take all other recyclables. It’s free. We do it 50 per cent of the time.” The reason she can’t do it 100 per cent of the time is because “it has to be during business hours and I am trying to make a living. That’s my major peeve, I want to be selling and creating.” However, in the shop Friesen does make an effort to cut back on the materials staff use and the garbage they create. “We try to reduce what we put out. We reuse a lot of stuff. We try to incorporate cut stems into our products, or comp flowers I can’t retail to restaurants. We have to use plastic bags, our winters are minus 35 with the wind-chill. Our other option is using newspaper but it is too labour-intensive. We recycle water vials and containers. Every little bit helps.” Owner Pat Cull of Allan’s Flowers in Calgary, Alta., paints a bleak picture of recycling efforts in his city. “We don’t compost. The city doesn’t give us anything. If we want to recycle, it’s all private. You have to pay.” But the picture is greener over in Edmonton. Vance Scott, owner of Garneau Flowers Inc., says, “there are facilities for composting; it’s for everyone who wants to bring it. The recycling programs are pretty good, no charge, they separate a lot.” Kathy Goh owns G7 Florists in Port Moody, B.C., and isn’t new to the going green trend. She’s been an avid composter for years despite the fact that her municipality doesn’t offer a program for businesses. “I compost all my greens for the past 13 years. I do it myself, I compost in my garden, and I plant flowers.” In Victoria, B.C., the city does offer recycling but it’s up the individual businesses to drop off the materials. Daciana Desi Seulean, owner of Windsor Park Flowers, says, “We do compost and it’s free. You have to take recycling to the dump, by yourself. It’s kind of hard, I have a small business, and I am on my own here. It’s one more thing to do.” For many florists, it’s clear that going green can be influenced by the support – or lack of support – from municipalities. For those florists who are short on community support, now is the time to approach your city officials and lobby for change. After all, cutting back on wasteful materials can save you money, reduce your inventory and make you more appealing to customers – three things you can’t afford to do business without. |
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