Long Life Flowers

Find it annoying how quickly fresh flowers wither and perish, but aren’t drawn to faux or dried flowers? Then join the growing band of fans of the preserved flower

Preserved flowers look like the real thing because they are the real thing. They’re treated with a safe bio-chemical liquid that means they look daisy fresh for up to a year

If you grow your own flowers or get them delivered from a nice person nearby who grows them in their allotment then you don’t have an eco dilemma. But many of us buy cheap supermarket flowers; and the bad news is they come with a heavy carbon footprint, derived from the road or air miles needed to get them here. And those very £5 bunches of roses have a human cost, since flower farms in Kenya or Brazil have been found to subject workers to very low pay, exposure to dangerous chemicals and insanitary working conditions. All reasons to think about switching to preserved flowers which last for a good year. Saves money and stops us succumbing to cheap flowers with a hidden cost.

Top left and right: oats bouquet, £16.99 and red preserved hydrangea stem, £19.99 from Dowsing & Reynolds Left, centre: Kaffraria preserved bouquet, £49 at Lime Lace Bottom left: pink diosmia bouquet, £18.99 at Dowsing & Reynolds Far left, centre: Kara deluxe preserved bouquet from Ethereal Blooms, £195

More of us are cottoning onto the joys of a garden rug. They make rough old decks soft under barefeet, they smarten up a patio and they’re much more comfortable to sit on than those hoary old wool rugs we used to get out of the car boot when the sun shone. Many outdoor rugs on the market have pretty good eco ratings as they’re made from recycled PET. UK brand Weaver Green and US brand Fab Habitat offer recycled plastic rugs at eminently affordable prices. Products are woven in India and they are recyclable at end of life. For more luxe products look at Spanish rug makers including Now Carpets, Gan and nanimarquina. The former has a stunning range of recycled polyester carpets designed by Inma Bermúdez while the latter is producing some of its most popular rug designs woven from recycled plastic so you can take the look outside. Swedish brand Pappelina has great outdoor rugs made from locally made plastic. Not recycled content but they are 100% recyclable. Also check out US company Albert & Dash, which has great outdoor rugs.

Deck hand

Take the indoors outside in the form of a rug. Not a wool or silk one of course because it’ll get ruined. But a recycled plastic one is perfect for making a deck, patio or balcony look inviting

Top left: from nanimarquina Shade palette, polyethylene fibres, recyclable & fair trade, around £900 at Made In Design Above: plastic fibre rug from Gan’s Layers collection. Available at Chaplins

Centre left:

outdoor recycled rug, £90 at Limited Abode

Bottom left:

Annabelle recycled PET rug for Albert & Dash £99 at Darlings of Chelsea

Top left:

nanimarquina’s ever popular Oaxaca rug in outdoor guise, made from recycled PET fibres.170x240cm £1340 at Go Modern Top right: Llasa rug by Fab Habitat, 150x200cm, £89.95 at Cuckooland Above: pink and navy stripe recycled PET rug £79, Made.com Left: PET rugs from Weaver Green Far left: plastic rug from wide selection by Pappelina