Danger with a Scent of Roses
By: Estefania Leiva 10A
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Valentine’s Day is beautiful, isn’t it? It's full of lovers, kisses, chocolates, and roses. Roses are an amazing gift for almost any girl, they're so delicate they make girls hearts flutter. However, roses aren’t as perfect as they seem. Did you know that one of the most contaminating things that grow on earth are roses?
First of all, don't assume imported roses are environmentally hostile. A 2007 study by Cranfield University in England found that “raising 12,000 Kenyan roses resulted in 13,200 pounds (6,000 kilograms) of CO2”. Let’s start by saying that Colombia is the main exporter of roses in America, and the second worldwide, only after the Netherlands. Most roses come from warmer climates in South America, where roughly 80 percent of our roses take root. However, most of the consumers are in the States and many parts of Europe, and, according to Flowerpetal.com, roses are so delicate they cannot travel long distances by sea thanks to the temperature. If they do, the flowers will end up wilting. So, the next fastest and able to control temperature transport is by plane; however, the percentage of contamination by doing this is alarming. It is not only contaminating, but it’s using absurd quantities of water and energy.
Think about every time you’ve got a rose, it looks perfect, and sometimes it looks almost way too perfect, and why is that? Have you ever heard about the dangers posed by pesticides and other chemicals used in floriculture? In a documentary about floriculture, it’s said there was a discovery about a disease produced. The symptoms are: chronic intoxication, finger tremor, urinary incontinence, muscle weakness, tachycardia, vertigo and constant headaches.
The pesticides do not only affect human beings exposed to the environment, but the environment itself. Chemical pesticides are known to pollute the environment, and even though they’re sprayed on land, they can make their way into a water source, such as a river, an ocean, or a pond. If a body of water becomes contaminated with the chemicals, many fish and other animals may die and get sick. This can throw the ecosystem off-balance. Organizations like the Organic Material Review Institute (OMRI) have been making strides in recent years to develop standards for these alternative products. The private nonprofit group oversees determining whether a product, such as a repellent, may qualify as organic. However, untill today roses don’t use any pesticide qualified as ecologic or organic.
This year, instead of giving roses, try berries, ferns or, when in season, field-grown flowers such as sunflowers, larkspur or dahlias. All of this flowers are sustainable, and somehow a better gift.
