By Amelia Naughten, Staff Writer
It seems all too soon for the return of the gift-giving season. Wasn’t it just Christmas? But Valentine’s is here, and the season of love is all around us. Which, of course, means that you’ll have to get a gift for a friend or loved one. Out of ideas, you may be considering getting them some flowers again; doesn’t everyone love that? Think again.
Over the years, the meaning behind flowers has been lost to gimmicky and commercialized ideas of love. Originally sought after to create paradisal atmospheres and celebrate the vivid beauty of nature, flowers have been used as symbols of love and natural beauty in acts of appreciation and celebration. Nowadays, people have become so desensitized to the true meaning of flowers because of how much they are frequented or advertised as the “optimal gift for every occasion.” In other words, bouquets have simply lost their touch in conveying genuine romantic feelings.
Millions of flowers are grown every year to stock stores across the country and satisfy the Valentine’s season demand. Tons of water, land, and energy is pumped into growing flowers, many of which don’t pass quality control. If they survive the journey to stores, these flowers may be among the lucky one-in-two who are actually bought before living out their shelf life of four days. The staggering 50% of flowers who never make it out of the store are discarded to landfills. The total energy spent produces almost 10,000 metric tons of CO2 per 100 million flowers, enough to fuel a hot air balloon. Furthermore, people who receive flowers often only enjoy them for an hour or two, but afterwards these plants become items pushed off to the side to collect dust. For a gift with such little gratification and so much environmental havoc, it seems a little unreasonable to feed into the trend.
Sadly, flowers are quick to be misinterpreted as signs of your insincerity or lack of effort to get someone a more personalized gift. When 15 Mills students were asked whether they would prefer real flowers or an equivalent gift (such as stationery, a plushie, or chocolates), more than half of respondents answered saying they would prefer the equivalent gift. Many cited that they would appreciate a gift that could be used long-term, required less upkeep, and was more personalized to their taste. Jasmine Li (9) shared, “I like sweets, and flowers would just sit around and die.” To some, the symbolism behind flowers has also been flipped to mean the “death” of love, because the flowers that represent love ultimately die. “You don’t want your love to die like a flower,” Theresa Bruce (10) commented. So if the flowers of today have lost their intrigue, what can replace them?
Firstly, it’s important to always know the person that you’re gifting to and to center your gift around their interests. General gifts that seem to be popular among Mills students include food, plushies, a sweet card, and jewelry/accessories. But even then, some of these gifts are relatively meaningless when gifted with little to no thought or personal significance.
But for those who are set on getting flowers, there are alternatives to lessen the environmental impact while making a more lasting impact on your loved one. For example, you could source your flowers from a local florist, meaning that your purchase not only contributes to a more ethical and eco-friendly practice, but also that your flowers will be more unique to your area. Shopping for potted flowers is also more sustainable long term because the gift will be easier to care for. Paper or crocheted flowers are also a popular replacement for real blossoms. Hand-crafted crocheted flowers capture the same beauty of natural flowers while ensuring that they would last forever, making your purchase worthwhile. These flowers, especially when hand-crafted, are even more meaningful than real flowers because of the attention to detail and effort put into them. The same goes for paper flowers, whose details and delicacy mimics that of real flowers and adds a more personalized touch.
But at the end of the day, it’s truly the thought that counts. It is important to put effort into the gifts we buy for others, making Valentines a special celebration of the ones we love rather than just surrendering to meaningless gimmicks. So whether you’re on a time-crunch or a budget, it’s always nice to celebrate the people around us; just make sure you are aware of the impact you’re making.
