Give roses with a clear conscience on Valentine’s Day
Published: Wednesday, Feb 14th 2024, 04:40
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Around ninety percent of cut flowers sold in Switzerland are imported - including roses for Valentine's Day. A study commissioned by the Max Havelaar Foundation now shows that Fairtrade roses from Kenya cause significantly less CO2 emissions than roses from greenhouses in the Netherlands.
According to the authors of the ETH study, Dutch roses from the greenhouse caused 27 kilograms of CO2 per bunch from production to sale in Switzerland. In contrast, a bunch of Fairtrade roses transported by plane from Kenya to Switzerland caused only 9.3 kilograms of CO2. That was 66 percent less emissions than the Dutch flowers had caused.
According to Max Havelaar, the comparison with Fairtrade roses transported by ship is even more impressive. They caused only 1.2 kilograms of CO2 per bunch. "This corresponds to lower CO2 emissions by a factor of 21.4 compared to Dutch roses", as Annette Billharz, Manager at Fairtrade Max Havelaar, is quoted in a press release.
The study compared the environmental impact of rose production in Kenya and the Netherlands on the basis of six indicators, including cumulative energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity loss and water consumption.
Heating and lighting leads to high demand
According to the study, the decisive factor for the significant differences in all measurements of agricultural production of roses in the Netherlands was the environmental impact caused by the high energy requirements for heating and lighting the greenhouses there.
The study also showed that there is potential for improvement in both types of production: A significant increase in energy efficiency is required for Dutch rose production. Due to the high proportion of fossil fuels in the electricity mix, a switch to renewable heat sources and renewable electricity is a prerequisite for significantly reducing the environmental impact.
In the case of the Kenyan roses, there is potential to increase the quantity of goods transported by ship and in the area of water efficiency - for example by collecting rainwater or reusing used water in a closed cycle.
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