Our mission
Flowers should bring joy without borrowing from the future.
I aim to share my joy of being alive, through beauty, art, inspiration, nature and flowers. But there is no joy in borrowing resources at the expense of the future. I care passionately about making ethical choices in our increasingly fragile world.
I wanted to make a responsible choice.
When I found out about the impact of plastic pollution on wildlife, I reviewed my entire lifestyle and tried to eliminate plastic where I could.
But when I looked at beautiful supermarket flowers, I found that I had no way of knowing what environmental cost was involved. They were wrapped in plastic and may have been flown halfway across the world.
Just as importantly, there was nothing to tell me whether they had been grown with low carbon emissions; whether harmful pesticides and herbicides had been used; whether growing them had put pressure on scarce local resources such as water; or whether the workers had been paid a living wage.
That lack of information matters. I wanted to make a responsible choice, but I did not have the information I needed to make one.
What I am trying to do
I decided to be the change I wanted to see in the world
Free Spirit Flowers is my attempt to do something practical.
I grow flowers outdoors in Carshalton, in their natural season. I want to avoid unnecessary heating and air freight, reduce plastic, care for the soil and wildlife, and be honest about how the flowers have been grown.
This is not about claiming that everything local is automatically better or sustainable. It's about transparency. I can guarantee you that my flowers are grown using organic principles, in a way that supports nature to thrive. I grow in a pesticide-free, herbicide-free way, on a plot where I have eliminated single use plastic and use recycled and sustainable materials.
That is why we need better information—not slogans.
The questions we should be able to ask
What is the real cost of this bunch?
- 01Where were these flowers grown?
- 02Were they grown outdoors or with additional heat and artificial light?
- 03How did they reach the United Kingdom?
- 04Which pesticides and herbicides were used?
- 05Did growing them put pressure on local water supplies or damage the soil?
- 06Were the people who grew and picked them treated fairly and paid a living wage?
At present, a bunch of flowers rarely gives us clear answers to all these questions.
Why seasonal flowers?
Start with what can grow naturally here and now.
Choosing flowers that can grow naturally here, at that time of year, is one practical place to start.
Seasonal British flowers can be grown outdoors, close to the people who buy them. They do not need to be available in identical quantities every week of the year. They can follow the weather and the natural growing season.
That means accepting that not every flower will be available whenever we want it. It also means discovering flowers that are at their best here and now.
Small changes still matter
It is not too late, and we are not doomed.
None of us is doing this perfectly. Most of us feel that we are doing too little, too late.
But we can keep asking questions. We can choose seasonal flowers when we can. We can support growers who care for their soil, wildlife and workers. We can ask shops and supermarkets for better information.
Every choice will not be perfect. The important thing is that we keep trying—and put the future of our environment higher up our list.