rena lowers
sustainability 2020 report
ARENA FLOWERS
SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2020
the uk’s most ethical florist
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contents Fresher, Fairer Flowers
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Our Proudest Achievements
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Chapter 01: The UK’s Most Ethical Florist
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The UK’s Most Ethical Florist
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Planting a Better Future
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Chapter 02: Our Unique Production Process
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Working Directly with Growers
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The Worlds First Closed-loop Flower Waste System
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Reducing our Emissions
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Less Water, Less Impact
SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2020
Conserve Energy
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Leading the Industry at Arena Flowers HQ Eliminating Pesticides
Chapter 03: Delivery Process
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No Single-use Plastics
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Better Packed Boxes
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Chapter 04: How to Help at Home
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Chapter 05: Human Impact
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Fairer For Our People
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Fairer For All People
Chapter 06: Our Commitment
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Carbon Neutral
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ARENA FLOWERS
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fresher, fairer flowers
At Arena Flowers, we are committed to growing the best products possible with the least impact on our planet. We’ve not used single-use plastics in our packaging since 2017, beat our own target for achieving carbon neutrality by 12 months, optimised our logistics solutions to save resources and reduce emissions, planted a tree for every order - nearly half a million at the time of writing - and pioneered our industry’s first closed-loop waste system. These initiatives have earned us a perfect 100/100 score from the Ethical Company Index for the past three years, but we’re determined to grow into an even bigger force for good. As an industry-leading brand, we have the opportunity to set the bar for our peers. Our commitments are not only a statement of our own values, but a reflection of our customers’ too. Our bouquets are easy activism, delivered with a guarantee that every person and place we’ve touched has been treated with respect, and that we’re doing all we can for many we haven’t.
This document is a company-wide commitment to our planet and a promise to everyone - whether they know us or not - that we will lead floristry to the fairest and most sustainable future possible. John Hackett CEO, Arena Flowers
ARENA FLOWERS
SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2020
We must stay ahead if we want to create meaningful change. This means thinking years into the future with our day-to-day actions and setting ever more ambitious targets to beat.
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our proudest achievements We have so much to talk about in this sustainability report, but here are some of our proudest accolades and achievements as a primer on what’s to come. Read on to discover all we do to protect our planet and our people.
100/100
Ethical Company Index Rating We are our industry’s ethical leaders, with a perfect score from the independent Ethical Company Index for the past two years and six years’ total accreditation.
SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2020
1,000,000
Trees Planted by Mother’s Day 2021
We recently started planting a tree for every order received, and will have planted more than half a million by the end of 2020. We have a bold ambition to have planted more than a million trees by Mother’s Day 2021 - incredible for an independent florist.
Zero
Single-Use Plastics
Since 2017, all our packaging has been free from single-use plastics. Everything that arrives at your door is sustainable, recyclable or compostable.
ARENA FLOWERS
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chapter 01
ARENA FLOWERS
SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2020
the uk’s most ethical florist
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CHAPTER 01
the uk’s most ethical florist We’re not usually ones to brag, but with the accolades we’ve received it’s hard not to share with our customers. We are so proud to be the UK’s most ethical florist. We’ve been awarded Positive Luxury’s prestigious Butterfly mark and have been accredited by the Ethical Company Index for the past seven years, achieving top marks for the past three.
SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2020
A perfect 100/100 score doesn’t mean we can sit back and celebrate, though; it motivates us to keep redefining what’s possible in our sector and paving the way for others to follow.
To us, ethics aren’t tick-boxes, marketing initiatives or a reluctant necessity. They’re our guiding light, the foundations on which we stand and the inspiration to make every day better than the last. We are truly excited to see how far we can push ourselves.
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CHAPTER 01
Flower Delivery Companies Ethical Ranking The chart below shows how we score with the Ethical Company Index. We sit 15 points ahead of the second highest-rated florist and are the only company to ever achieve the maximum 100/100.
Ethical Company Index
Public Record Criticisms
Ethical Accreditation
Other
Fairtrade
Political Donations
People
Arnaments
Animal Welfare
Nuclear Power
Organic
Environmental Report
Environment An.
100
Organic Blooms
85
Serenata Flowers
80
Teleflorist
80
eFlorist
80
iflorist
80
Bloom & Wild
75
Bunches
75
The Great British Florist
75
The Real Flower Company
75
Appleyard Flowers
70
Blossoming Gifts
70
Flower Station
65
Prestige Flowers
65
Interflora
55
ARENA FLOWERS
SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2020
Arena Flowers
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CHAPTER 01
planting a better future By Mother’s Day 2021, we will have planted one million trees.
SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2020
We started this initiative to reduce our carbon footprint and do good for communities around the world; it’s incredible to see it bloom. We don’t just scatter seeds in the local park or plant the easy ones, either - we spent months finding the perfect partner who could make the biggest environmental contribution.
Working with the Eden Reforestation Project, we plant Mangrove trees in places such as Haiti, Madagascar, Mozambique and Kenya, which not only reach their full maturity quicker for maximum Co2 absorption, but also make a massive contribution to stopping coastal erosion - another big problem for locals and the climate alike. In addition, the success of this initiative helped our entire workforce become carbon neutral a full 12 months ahead of our target and will enable our whole operation to be carbon neutral by the end of 2021.
For every bouquet sold, we plant a mangrove tree that removes over 308kg of CO2 from the atmosphere over the growth life of the tree.
For every order we receive and every email subscriber who joins our community, we plant a tree with Eden; it’s as simple as that. We take great pleasure in knowing what these little (and not so little) bouquets give back and hope our customers do too.
The equivalent of offsetting the average carbon requirements for over 100 Arena Flowers bouquets. ARENA FLOWERS
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chapter 02
ARENA FLOWERS
SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2020
our unique production process
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CHAPTER 02
working directly with growers Growers are a crucial part of Arena Flowers. We need their skill and diligence to grow the best flowers for us, but they’re also key to achieving our environmental goals and maintaining the welfare of everyone in the supply chain. We only source from growers who meet our strict criteria of sustainability and ethics. We work closely with our growers to ensure best practices are constantly in place. Every single stem we use can be traced back to the farm it came from on the day it was picked, so we can absolutely guarantee they’ve met our promises. Where Our Flowers Are From
11% Italy
2% Columbia
SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2020
This chart shows where all our lovely, ethical flower suppliers are from.
35%
Holland
21%
Kenya
32%
United Kingdom
100% of our products are Fairtrade certified where they can be, as well as being certified by the NonGMO Project and the Rainforest Alliance. All of our Kenyan suppliers are Fairtrade, and their European counterparts are approved by GlobalG.A.P, a global organisation upholding the standards of good agricultural practice. Our farms are also champions of initiatives such as wetland water filtration schemes and grey water harvesting, to supply water to their hydroponic systems and reduce water usage. The criteria for our suppliers ensure that from seed to door, no bouquet arrives at the expense of any worker in the supply chain, and with the smallest footprint possible across its lifecycle. ARENA FLOWERS
CHAPTER 02
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the worlds first closed-loop flower waste system We’re the only florist in the world to implement a closed-loop waste system. It certainly sounds impressive, but what does it actually mean? Put simply, nothing we use enters landfill. Where some see waste, we see potential. When our flowers are prepared, all the off-cuts and stray leaves are salvaged and sent to processing plants and paper mills where the real magic happens.
Once there, our partners use the collected green waste to produce our packing materials without the need for new resources. From the box to the cellophane and even the food sachet, everything which arrives at your door is sustainable, recyclable or compostable. It wasn’t easy being the first, but the creation of this system enables us to take huge steps in decreasing our environmental impact.
Our growers select and harvest the finest flowers. The stems are cleaned and prepped ready to be added to a beautiful bouquet.
The Closed-loop Flower Waste System Process
Our flowers are delivered to your door in our 100% sustainable packaging.
The waste is recycled and friendly, water-based inks are used to create the organic, recycled and recyclable paper that we lovingly wrap our flowers in.
All green waste from the farm is collected.
The organic waste arrives at the paper mill.
ARENA FLOWERS
SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2020
Help us help the planet. Our box, box tape, ribbon and flower food sachet can be popped in your recycling bin, and our paper wrap and cellophane will compost entirely in two weeks.
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CHAPTER 02
less water, less impact One thing plants love is water, but it’s a valuable resource that we believe shouldn’t be used frivolously.
reducing our emissions
SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2020
It’s no secret that our flowers have to travel. We wish we could grow them all here in Milton Keynes, but it’s not best known for its agriculture. We do, however, give a lot of thought to making sure they travel as efficiently as possible. The selection of our growing partners is guided by the farm location and our ability to consolidate shipments early in the supply chain, as fewer trucks and flights mean less fuel consumed and lower fuel emissions. In 2020, our overall annual mileage has been reduced by 55%.
To conserve it, our farms use hydroponic systems, supplemented by collected rainwater, wetland water filtration schemes and greywater sourcing over traditional soil planting. By growing our flowers in trays of water instead of soil, we can reduce overall water consumption by 30-40% while keeping the stems just as beautiful and healthy. It’s not only our farms that are water-conscious we moved our entire UK headquarters to an EPC A-rated facility to harvest and better utilise our grey water, something which has reduced our water consumption by 12% this year. This focus on water preservation goes beyond top-level decisions around our premises; all of our staff are encouraged to consider water as an important resource as we work together to save as much of it as we can. It’s all part of our pledge to become the most water-efficient flower business in the world.
We’ve salvaged 23.3 tonnes of green waste, which is equivalent to 8 elephants.
ARENA FLOWERS
CHAPTER 02
conserve energy Growing flowers outside of their natural cycles requires the creation of artificial environments. This takes an awful lot of energy to achieve, so we just don’t do it. Instead, our expert florists work with the seasons and create our stunning bouquets naturally.
leading the industry at arena flowers hq We arrange and tie all our bouquets by hand, here in the UK. We arrange and tie all our bouquets by hand, here in the UK. Our headquarters is an EPC a-rated facility which harvests its greywater and is heated by sustainably-sourced woodchip pellets. Many of our staff are local enough to walk or cycle to work. We also have charging points for EVs outside our building for both staff vehicles and the company vans. We have three company electrical vehicles currently onsite and plan to at least double this by summer 2021. For those employees who need to drive to work, we will incentivise them to move to electric vehicles for their commute.
eliminating pesticides Why use chemicals when there’s a natural solution? We use botanical solutions and Integrated Pest Management to look after our flowers, meaning that instead of a harsh, artificial, environmentharming chemical we rely on other plants and natural predators like red spider mites to keep unwanted pests down. Well-protected flowers for us and an all-you-can-eat buffet for our arachnid colleagues. If our growers are required to use something not quite so natural, we will only permit products with the lightest possible environmental impact. ARENA FLOWERS
SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2020
We are still able to supply some year-round favourites though, having established the growing methods which require the lowest energy consumption. The majority of our roses are grown in Kenya where the equatorial climate allows us to use the least resource possible. They have a little further to get here, but we got clever on maximising that too - read on to find out!
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SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2020
chapter 03
delivery process
ARENA FLOWERS
CHAPTER 03
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no single-use plastics Our bouquets need to be well protected when they travel, so the least we can do is ensure we do so in the most environmentally-sound way we can. Since 2017, our packaging hasn’t included any single-use plastics. Everything which arrives at your door is recycled, recyclable or compostable; from the recycled cardboard box to the things that leave you scratching your head and wondering how on earth they really can be. Everything we send can be reused, recycled, or popped in your compost bin when you’re done with it.
Pretty comprehensive, right? ARENA FLOWERS
SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2020
We’ve saved 2,937kgs of plastic going to landfill - equivalent weight of over 18 Green sea turtles.
When sent, our flowers are kept hydrated by plantbased root wrap and bundled up in plant-based, compostable cellophane, tied with sustainable bamboo linen ribbon which can be composted or re-used. They’re then wrapped in recycled, reusable paper, and packed alongside a bio-coated, ECF pulp-made sachet of flower food in boxes made from 100% recycled cardboard, printed with waterbased vegetable inks and sealed with recyclable tape.
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CHAPTER 03
better packed boxes When our bouquets head out on the road, we believe there’s nothing worse than wasted space. We’re in the business of sending flowers, not well-packed air. This inspired us to reduce the size of our packaging as much as possible without impacting the size or safety of the flowers inside, resulting in boxes shrinking by 12%. This enables us to fit more product into every delivery and increase the efficiency of every drop.
SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2020
We’d still like to go further and are working with our delivery partner to offer customers more environmentally-friendly shipping options. While these large-scale shifts take time, we decided to switch our own company vehicles to zero-emission electric vans and now run our local logistics without the direct use of fossil fuels.
Reducing our boxes in size has resulted in saving 833,260 miles, the equivalent of travelling over 33 times around the world.
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chapter 04
ARENA FLOWERS
SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2020
how to help at home
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CHAPTER 04
how to help at home We want doing the right thing to be easy. By ordering from us, our customers are receiving the most ethical bouquets available as standard; we take great care to guarantee that their click counts in the fight to help our environment. If you’d like to go further, however, here are a few little pointers… - Make sure your packaging goes in the right place when you’re done. It’s simple, but we’ve put a lot of effort into ensuring it’s all recyclable or compostable; all you need to do is pop it in the right bin.
SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2020
- Upcycle away...We’re phasing out the branding from our ribbons, so you can put them to your own uses without your friends and family thinking you’re our biggest fan (although we do appreciate the support).
Upcycle Our Packaging Our subscription boxes make perfect planters.
- If you need to care for some plants indoors, why not upcycle the subscription box as a planter? - Bring environmental protection home. Many households could reduce their own water consumption easily and cheaply (if not for free!). Lots of water suppliers have great tips and can even supply water-saving products you can install at home. - Give bees a chance! If you’ve got a garden at home, consider letting your grass grow longer between trims so wild flowers can flourish and give the bees a much-needed boost. There are also plenty of beautiful bee-friendly seeds, plants and veg you could introduce to make your garden a haven.
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chapter 05
ARENA FLOWERS
SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2020
human impact
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CHAPTER 05
fairer for our people We value everyone in our supply chain and take full responsibility for their wellbeing, safety and security. Whether they’re picking on the farm or packing at Arena Flowers HQ , we believe everyone who makes our bouquets happen deserves fair pay for fair work - it’s why we’re the leading independent supporter of Fairtrade in the UK. All our flowers are sourced from ethical suppliers and Fairtrade-certified farms we’ve personally approved in-line with our own selection criteria, and all staff are paid at least a real living wage.
SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2020
We see our team as a family, and what benefits one should benefit us all. No-one should be undervalued in the production of something which exists to bring joy, and we promise to be fair, empathetic and principled in upholding this belief.
fairer for all people We value everyone in our supply chain and take full responsibility for their wellbeing, safety and security. Not only do we care for our people, we want to care for all people. We do this on a broad scale with our environmental commitments, but we also work with numerous charities and initiatives to make a more direct and immediate impact. In addition to our work overseas and in the homes of our suppliers, we donate bouquets and a share of our profits to people and charities across the UK. Every order generates £1 to Women’s Aid, culminating in over £50,000 being raised in 2020 to help end domestic violence against women and children. We also give bouquets at random to people we feel deserve them, such as frontline workers throughout 2020 (who, incidentally, can buy our flowers at cost as a token of our appreciation), and create special charity-focused bouquets for specific causes. It’s not only charitable work we support; we also care deeply about the profession of floristry and want to see the best of future talent. Partnering with local universities, we give our seconds and off-cuts to students to hone their craft without the expense of sourcing their own.
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chapter 06
ARENA FLOWERS
SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2020
our commitment
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CHAPTER 06
carbon neutral At Arena Flowers we are committed to becoming completely carbon neutral by the end of 2021. We will achieve this by continuing our carbon-saving initiatives and increasing our ambition throughout the year ahead. By the end of 2021, we will have planted more than one million trees on behalf of our customers, truly making a difference to the world we all love. We are committed to continue improving our own home as well. We will look at further ways to improve our facilities, collect more greywater, look at ways to incorporate bees into our home (hey we have the flowers to make them happy) and look after the environment around us - including those unloved spaces.
SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2020
We’re re-assessing previous achievements too, outlining the areas we could improve further with a little more investment and ingenuity.
We will double the effectiveness of our water-saving initiatives, to become the world’s most water-efficient flower business.
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CHAPTER 06
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Our focus will also be drawn back to the unavoidable necessity of transport. Unfortunately, our flowers will still have to travel to reach our florists and our customers, but we’re determined to do it even more efficiently. The current approach of reducing package size across all logistics has been effective, but we are now going further to work directly with Yodel, our UK delivery partner, to drive down the emissions of the road miles when our bouquets are out for delivery. In fact, we are committed to remove 100k carbon road miles in 2021. We are also looking to trial a collection service for our used boxes to ensure all usable materials are given another life. We are also working to do more for our customers.
We look forward to catching up again next year with more good news about the progress we have made in leading floristry to a greener, brighter future.
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SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2020
Flowers aren’t always sent for the happiest of reasons, but they’re always intended to brighten someone’s day. To support the mental wellbeing of our subscription customers, we will start including a quarterly copy of The Happy News - a fantastic project which highlights all the good in the world we so rarely see - and add colouring books to our boxes to give the recipients a moment of peace and positivity in an increasingly hectic world.
rena lowers
sustainability report 2020 arenaflowers.com/sustainability-report
