Our Sustainability Story
Here at Afloral in New York, USA, we’ve given radical attention to ensure our products, packaging, and practices protect our environment and reflect our corporate social responsibility to our planet, employees, and customers. We partner with like-minded businesses and continue to search for vendors that share our ethical and sustainability goals.
Packaging & Shipping
One of the most significant changes we've made to impact our footprint is our vendor packaging. Currently, we're at 70% plastic-free vendor packaging. Our other 30% contains cellophane sleeves on dried florals or styrofoam molds for large, heavy vases. We're working with our vendors to replace cellophane with recycled paper and introduce vase molds made from recycled cardboard. In addition, every item that contains plastic packaging or styrofoam is noted on its product detail page.
Outside of our vendor packaging, we've taken several steps to eliminate plastic and lower our total shipping footprint. For example, we've replaced recyclable plastic air pillows and bubble wrap with recycled unbleached paper pillows. We've also introduced a new box suite made from unbleached, recycled cardboard. Our new boxes were designed to decrease volume and gently secure our florals. This change has lowered the number of boxes we ship, and the number of boxes returned due to product damage in transit.
Afloral Boutique Products
Every product, no matter how thoughtfully sourced, has an environmental impact. With our footprint in mind, our team carefully curates a boutique line of unique botanical products for each season. Every product has been hand-selected, tested in our designer's homes, and produced with your long-term floral and design needs in mind - an investment in your botanical home.
When sourcing our products, we strive to source natural products from eco-conscious farmers and reusable artificial products made from recycled materials whenever possible. In addition, we partner with our vendors to ensure transparency, exceed certifications in labor best practices, and provide an above-living wage.
Transparency is provided in our sourcing and vendors, focusing on corporate responsibility. Please see each product page for item details, including country of origin and materials. We continually add information to our product pages to ensure transparency in your thoughtful purchase.
Dried & Preserved Flowers
For years, we've leaned on cultivating relationships with small, family-owned flower farms, and working to lower our carbon footprint. Here’s a look at where our dried flowers originate:
- Texas
- Washington State
- Baja California
- Oregon
- Mexico
- China
- Thailand
We work with dried and preserved flower vendors who are located in a range of ecosystems. This helps us match requests for native and non-native flowers to North America where we are located.
From planting to processing, our trusted farmers focus on lowering their environmental impact at every step. Our partners keep dried flowers as natural as possible through sustainable harvesting techniques, natural drying processes, solar-powered facilities, and on-site, certified wastewater treatment.
Below is a snapshot of one of our flower farm partners.
This female-owned, third-generation flower farm practices responsible farming techniques such as harvesting by hand, reducing chemical use by planting naturally disease-resistant florals, and spot-treating weeds instead of applying herbicide to an entire field. This small floral farm also naturally dries all of its florals in an on-site facility, lowering its overall energy use.
Processing Dried & Preserved Flowers
Some florals are preserved or dyed to maintain color, shape, and flexibility. Preserved florals are rehydrated with a vegetable-based glycerin solution. Dyed florals undergo a dying process, where vegetable-based coloring is added. All wastewater used during this process is treated on-site at a certified facility. Please note dried and preserved florals are not food-grade.
At Afloral, we're always striving to do better. We're shifting our focus to more natural stems (this means less dying and fewer processes) and choosing only vegetable-based/food-grade dyes when possible. In addition, we're replacing cellophane sleeves for dried bundles with biodegradable Kraft paper. All dried or preserved products can be sorted by:
- Natural Dried - Dried using no chemical processes or dyes.
- Preserved - Processed with a vegetable-based glycerin formula to maintain flexibility. Some preserved items are dyed using water-based dyes to maintain color. All wastewater is treated on-site in certified facilities.
- Dyed - Processed using water-based dyes. All wastewater is treated on-site in certified facilities.
- Natural Accessories - A dried and preserved floral design accessory, such as decorative fruit.
Artificial Plants & Flowers
Plants and flowers offer a beautiful design element to any area of the home. Artificial plants and flowers that are botanically recreated offer a sustainable and eco-friendly alternative to fresh flowers that can provide the same aesthetic benefits without harming the planet. They're long-lasting and won't wilt or die, making them a cost-effective investment for sustainable home decor.
The primary source of artificial flowers and plants worldwide is China, with very few U.S. manufacturers. When domestic manufacturing is not available, we must source internationally for this portion of our business. As we strive to lower our environmental impact, we seek vendors that use recycled fabrics, wire, and biomass plastics (bio-based plastics are fully or partially made from biological resources rather than raw materials).
Not all artificial stems are made from recycled materials. We make sure every product page has clear and transparent information for the material makeup of the artificial stem and details for how it was manufactured.
All of our manufacturing partners follow a strict code of ethical labor practices and certifications. We also work diligently with our vendors to identify and partner with manufacturing facilities specifically using recycled and bio-mass materials. We consciously choose these manufacturers whenever possible. Please visit individual product pages for more information on the country of origin or the materials used to create each artificial flower.
Thank you for your interest in Afloral.