Strategically positioned throughout the financial district the abundant flower stands are impossible to miss.  And Fridays are “dollar-a-stem” days, so there is really no excuse not to buy.

Or so I thought.

As part of my quest to live a sustainable and sensible life my goal is to examine each area of my life, to make changes one-step at a time, and to simply do the best that I can.  I have come to realize that sustainable living is much more a process than a single choice.  And I am the first to admit that it isn’t easy (look for my “sustainable living” guide soon!).

A while back I happened to think about an article I had read about the flower industry and how especially bad it was for the environment.  In order to maximize growth, the inevitable (over)use of fertilizers and insecticides follows.

I realized that I had been buying flowers without asking myself what the ultimate cost was, both to the environment and to the people growing the flowers.  This was something I had done in other aspects of my life so I decided to do so in the flower-realm as well.

I knew that the flowers from these stands certainly weren’t organic, but I wondered where they were from.  Upon asking I was told they were from such faraway countries as New Zealand, Australia, and Holland.  REALLY?!  I couldn’t believe it.  I just couldn’t!  I hadn’t expected all of the flowers to be sourced locally, but to think that the cheapest and most efficient way to get flowers is to grow them across the world and then ship them thousands of miles to San Francisco was incredible to me.

Back to “dollar-a-stem” Fridays.  Is the true cost for a few flowers really only a few dollars?  Personally I think it absolutely is not.  The cost to the environment (chemicals used in the growing process and oil used for transport) alone is much more.

My decision was an easy one.  I was done buying flowers from the financial district stalls.  In fact, I was done buying non-organic, non-local flowers. Period.

The cost (not the price) did not equal the few days of enjoyment my girlfriend and I received from the flowers.

Luckily, I quickly realized that the Ferry Building Farmer’s Market in San Francisco provides me with an option to buy locally grown, organic flowers directly from those that grow them.  So my girlfriend still gets flowers (she would argue not frequently enough!), and I feel good about where my dollars are going; who my dollars are supporting.

I leave the choice up to you, but I urge you to begin looking at all areas of your life, especially the consumer side.  Ask yourself if the “buying as cheap as possible” mantra is the right one to have for the long-term health of our incredible planet.

Maybe a better mantra is “buy less, but buy right”.