39 Questions about Green Living

Welcome to Filigreen Flowers' very first blog, which temporarily breaks one big rule of blogging...keep it short. The following unavoidably looooong list of questions and answers come from a game we played at our booth at the annual Idaho Earthfest, held on Saturday, April 18 at the Idaho Botanical Gardens.

This list refers to floral industry practices that aren't exactly people- or earth-friendly. Filigreen hopes to see these practices change in the coming years as consumers become better educated about the floral industry.


1) How many dollars worth of gift wrap end up in landfills each year?[1]
a. $5 billion.
2) Since when has there been a flower industry?[2]
a. Since the Roman Empire. Papyrus records from Roman Egypt discuss problems of thousands of roses. The merchant delivered of four thousand narcissus blossoms instead.
3) If every family wrapped just three gifts a year in something reused or repurposed, how many football fields of paper would be saved?[3]
a. 45,000
4) Which of these things does the floral industry do to “gild the lily”?[4]
a. Spray perfume on flowers*
b. Engineer brighter colors
c. Breed in longer life
d. All of them. Gilding the lily means to add unnecessary embellishment. The floral industry does all these, and more.
5) Using one less Christmas card per person would save how many cubic yards of paper?[5]
a. 50,000 cubic yards
6) Why does the “red-hot poker” flower change from yellow to red after it’s been pollinated?[6]
a. So bees won’t try to pollinate it again*
7) February 14 is Valentine’s Day. What else is celebrated on that day?[7]
a. International Day of Flower Workers. This day is set aside to raise awareness for the tens of thousands of people, most in developing countries
8) LED Christmas lights use 80% - 90% less energy that traditional lights?[8]
a. True
9) How did General Electric keep pollen from falling of the “Regal Lily” for which it received Plant Patent 165?[9]
a. It shot it with X-rays. GE scientists didn’t do anything else to develop this plant—no hybridization, no trial-and-error with existing plant stock. They just shot it with X-rays.
10) Why do floral industries require most flowers workers in Columbia and Ecuador to take a pregnancy test?[10]
a. To make sure unborn children won’t be exposed to toxic chemicals
b. To plan for future employee-housing needs
c. To avoid providing paid maternity leave*
11) A Harvard Medical School study found that people most often want to see fresh flowers:[11]
a. In the morning. The morning blahs, it turns out, is a real phenomenon, with positive moods – happiness, friendliness and warmth, for example – manifesting much later in the day,” says lead researcher Nancy Etcoff, Ph.D. “Interestingly, when we placed a small bouquet of flowers into their morning routines, people perked up.”
12) Nationwide, the estimated 60 million barbecues held on the Fourth of July consume enough energy to power how many households for a year?[12]
a. 20,000 households
13) About how many species of flowers have been documented to be alive today?[13]
a. More than 270,000. The first plant fossils found were woody magnolia-like plants dating back 93 million years. Paleobotanists have more recently uncovered tiny herb-like flower fossils dating back 120 million years.
14) Household waste increases how much during the holidays?[14]
a. 25 percent
15) Who or what is “Ted the Titan”?[15]
a. The four-foot high “titan arum” corpse flower. It was discovered by the Italian botanist Odoardo Beccari in 1878 on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia, and smells…like a dead body.
16) We throw away 38,000 miles of ribbon during the holidays.[16]
a. True
17) One old trick to get bromeliads (orchids) to bloom is to stick a slice of what on the plant and then cover it with a paper bag?[17]
a. Ripe apples give off ethylene, and an old but effective trick to make bromeliads bloom is to lay a piece of apple on the plant and cover them with a paper bag for a short time. Since the early 1930s, plant physiologists have tried to isolate the hormone that turns leafy shoots into flowering stalks.
18) Much like with coffee growing, there is now a world-wide movement to support fair-trade flowers.[18]
a. True*
b. False
19) How many disposable razors end up in the landfill each year?[19]
a. 2 billion
20) The historic meaning of a daffodil is:[20]
a. Contentment
b. Encouragement
c. Chivalry*
21) By offering pitchers of water instead of bottled water, a 1,100 person conference over three days can save how much?[21]
a. 8,000 bottles and $40,000
22) U.S. Department of Agriculture inspectors check imported flowers for pests and chemicals.[22]
a. False. The U.S.D.A. checks for pests only. By checking for pests but not for chemicals, the department encourages the use and abuse by flower-growing countries of pesticides, nematodicides and other toxic chemicals.
23) The average American uses 700 pounds of paper each year.[23]
a. True
24) The average attendee at a three-day event generates more than 80 pounds of waste.[24]
a. True
25) Candles made from paraffin contain as many as 11 documented toxins and 2 EPA-recognized carcinogens – benzene and toluene.[25]
a. True
26) The production of a single gold ring generates how many tons of mine waste?[26]
a. 20 tons. Yes, tons.
27) The historic meaning of the sweet pea is:[27]
a. Honesty
b. Shyness*
c. Radiance
28) 20,000 people die each year in developing countries as a result of the chemicals sprayed on non-organic cotton.
a. True
29) The presence of flowers triggers happy emotions, heightens feelings of life satisfaction and affects social behavior in a positive manner far beyond what is normally believed.[28]
b. True. According to behavioral research conducted at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. A team of researchers explored the link between flowers and life satisfaction in a 10-month study of participants' behavioral and emotional responses to receiving flowers. The results show that flowers are a natural and healthful moderator of moods.
30) How many varieties of roses are there?[29]
a. About 15,000
b. About 30,000*
c. About 60,000
31) When was the first rose thought to have been cultivated?[30]
a. The rose as we know it, as a flower for gardens and arrangements, was first cultivated over 5,000 years ago, in Asia. The Romans gave up growing food and opted for roses during one point in their empire history. They used rose petals in everything they did, from the water in bathing to lining the tables and floors while eating and drinking. There were used as perfume, in confetti and as an herb and became so valuable, they were grown over other necessary food products. People were starving in the streets, but the royalty needed their rose petals.
b.
32) About how many flowers are sold every day in the Netherlands, the center of the global flower industry?[31]
a. 2 million
b. 7 million
c. 19 million*
33) The growth of commercial flowers overseas involves the heavy use of pesticides, fungicides, nematodicides and other chemicals. To protect workers, companies routinely provide protective clothing.[32]
a. Umm…not so much. Flower industry workers are subjected to drastic temperature changes, a polluted environment, a heavy workload, and psychological stress. The most common health complaints from these workers are respiratory illness, skin diseases, varicose veins and ulcers.
34) Among flower workers’ most common health complaints are respiratory illness, skin disease, varicose veins and:[33]
a. …ulcers. Flower industry workers are subjected to drastic temperature changes, a polluted environment, a heavy workload, and psychological stress, including sexual harassment, low wages, and no right to form unions. They are often landless peasants or unemployed city dwellers. About 60 percent of flower industry workers are women.
35) What percent of flowers purchased in the U.S. are grown in the U.S.?[34]
a. 30 percent*
b. 60 percent
c. 90 percent
36) Many of the pesticides used to grow flowers in Latin America and Africa, such as organophosphates, are potent neurotoxins affect reproductive health.[35]
a. True. A United Natiion study found that 60 percent of workers on flower farms in Ecuador, many of whom were children, suffered from pesticide poisoning, with symptoms ranging from dizziness to blurred vision. A full two-thirds of Colombian flower laborers exhibit comparable illnesses, including neurological problems and disproportionately high numbers of still births.
37) How many miles does the average flower travel to get to your table?[36]
a. 500 miles
b. 1500 miles*
c. 2500 miles
38) Fair Trade Certified chocolate ensures that?[37]
a. forced and abusive child labor are prohibited
b. farming families earn a fair wage
c. environmentally sustainable production methods are required
d. all of the above *
39) According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Americans waste how many pounds of food each year?[38]
a. 96 billion

[1] Celebrate Green by Corey-Lipson and Lynn Colwell
[2] Flower Confidential, Amy Stewart, Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2007, ppg. 6
[3] Green Christmas By Jenniver Basye Sander and Peter Sander with Anne Basye
[4] Flower Confidential, Amy Stewart, Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2007, ppg. 11
[5] Green Christmas By Jenniver Basye Sander and Peter Sander with Anne Basye
[6] Flower Confidential, Amy Stewart, Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2007, ppg. 21
[7] http://www.holidays.net/
[8] Celebrate Green by Corey-Lipson and Lynn Colwell
[9] Flower Confidential, Amy Stewart, Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2007, ppg. 28
[10] http://www.laborrights.org/files/Flowerstoolkit08.pdf
[11] http://www.aboutflowers.com/health-benefits-a-research/home-ecology-of-flowers-study/flowers-a-morning-moods.html
[12] Celebrate Green by Corey-Lipson and Lynn Colwell
[13] http://www.flowermonthclub.com/history.htm
[14] Celebrate Green by Corey-Lipson and Lynn Colwell
[15] http://greenhouse.ucdavis.edu/conservatory/titan/index.html
[16] Green Christmas By Jenniver Basye Sander and Peter Sander with Anne Basye
[17] http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/044408.html
[18] http://www.fairflowersfairplants.com/en/traders.aspx
[19] Eco-chic Weddings by Emily Elizabeth Anderson
[20] http://www.aboutflowers.com/flower-a-plant-information-and-photos/meanings-of-flowers.html
[21] Simple Steps to Green Meetings and Events by Amy Spatrisano and Nancy J. Wilson
[22] http://www.consciouschoice.com/2003/cc1602/organicflowers1602.html
[23] Simple Steps to Green Meetings and Events by Amy Spatrisano and Nancy J. Wilson
[24] Simple Steps to Green Meetings and Events by Amy Spatrisano and Nancy J. Wilson
[25] Celebrate Green by Corey-Lipson and Lynn Colwell
[26] The Green Bride Guide By Kate L. Harrison
[27] http://www.aboutflowers.com/flower-a-plant-information-and-photos/meanings-of-flowers.html
[28] http://www.aboutflowers.com/health-benefits-a-research/emotional-impact-of-flowers-study.html
[29] http://www.professorshouse.com/your-home/gardening-plants/roses.aspx
[30] http://www.professorshouse.com/your-home/gardening-plants/roses.aspx
[31] http://www.videa.ca/resources/deceptive_beauty_ch1.pdf
[32] http://www.videa.ca/resources/deceptive_beauty_ch1.pdf
[33] http://www.videa.ca/resources/deceptive_beauty_ch1.pdf
[34] http://www.greenyour.com/home/lawn-garden/flowers
[35] http://www.organicconsumers.org/organic/flowers020204.cfm
[36] http://www.organicconsumers.org/organic/flowers020204.cfm
[37] Celebrate Green by Corey-Lipson and Lynn Colwell
[38] Eco-chic Weddings by Emily Elizabeth Anderson