How Green are We?
Here at KMD Florist, we are making all reasonable efforts to be “green”. As a florist, our livelihood comes from Mother Nature… Being “green” just makes perfect sense! We recycle as much of our everyday “trash” as we can, through the recycling center in Waterville. Cardboard boxes that flowers are shipped in, are returned to the distributors for re-use. All of our fresh waste from stem cuttings, etc, is taken to our property in Belgrade and composted for use in our growing gardens.
We occasionally receive inquires about “organic” flowers. To be truly organic, no chemical fertilizers, pesticides or preservative solutions may be used at all, anywhere along the process. For cut flowers, this is quite a challenge, as consumers still are not willing to sacrifice big blooms and long vase life for the organic concept. We do not know of any cut-flower vendors who serve this region and are truly certified organic.
At KMD Florist, we are fortunate that the shop owners have property off-site to use for gardening. In our local growing season, we grow many of our own cut flowers locally in Belgrade, ME. While we are not truly “organic”, we use mostly recycled compost from our shop to enhance the soil, and the small amount of commercial fertilizers we use are low impact. We only use “bug sprays” when absolutely necessary, and when we do, we use brands that are promoted as safe for the bees, butterflies and “good” bugs.
During the local season, over 50% of our fresh flower stock comes from our own gardens. This means the flowers are cut in the evening, put directly into water, and in our cooler for sale the very next day. No long distance shipping, and freshness that can’t be beat! To the best of our knowledge, we are the only florist in the Greater Waterville area that actively grows our own cut flower supply.
There are certain flower varieties that cannot reasonable be cultivated locally, such as roses, carnations, alstromeria, etc. With these flowers, the South American farms that grow them have been under pressure to “green” their processes as well. Recently the “VeriFlora” program was implemented, which requires participating farms to adhere to higher standards of environmental regulations and fair trade standards. Most of the farms we deal with are “VeriFlora” certified farms.
In our own local deliveries, we try to be as efficient as possible by organizing delivery routes in the most logical and concise manner possible, while still meeting the needs of our customers. Our current vehicle is a Dodge Caravan; however, the next delivery vehicle we purchase will hopefully be a hybrid.