Guilty love?

It's Valentine's Day and all you want to think about is love.  Even when I saw the NY Time's article this morning on the carbon footprint of the 100 million roses that will be given today, I couldn't help wondering if I had to feel guilty about how I expressed my love?

Eighty percent of roses given in the US are grown in South America.  Oh, great -- I can already guess at al of the carbon emissions associated with trucking and planing these beautiful flowers to my local florist.  Local, local, local my ecological mind shouts! But beware of falling into simple assumptions.  

It's not always about local, its about how something is grown and the people that grow it.  Research has shown that flowers grown in "modern" countries like California and Holland (other big producers) have larger carbon footprints because they're grown in greenhouses with heating and lighting and workers that drive to their jobs.

Life, like love, is not always simple.  We've got to make the connections.  



https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/environmental-price-of-flowers/