Green fingers, green principles, green servers

ArenaFlowers.com does everything it can to improve its ethical and environmental credentials - for the right reasons as well as to differentiate itself from the competition.

ArenaFlowers.com has just transferred to a new hosting service provider, Rackspace, and the new servers are carbon neutral as two new trees planted in Wales help offset the carbon emissions created by the servers.

Now, whatever you think of the accuracy or otherwise of carbon neutrality, ArenaFlowers.com does everything it can to improve its ethical and environmental credentials.

It's not by accident that ArenaFlowers.com has become the first UK florist to be accredited by Fair Flowers Fair Plants (FFP), the organisation that is to cut flowers what The Soil Association is to fruit and vegetables.

And to be recognised by a number of bodies other than FFP, including Greenpeace and the Corporate Social Responsibility research agency, The Ethical Company Organisation, is no mean feat.

How Green is ArenaFlowers.com? Distribution: ArenaFlowers.com flowers come direct from auction in Holland through the channel tunnel to a single London distribution point and then directly to the customer.

Unlike most florist business models, there are no unnecessary steps in distribution which reduces emissions, as well as wastage.

Within the M25 ArenaFlowers.com fulfils orders directly (see post on the blog here about latest trial, using electric vans for central London to cut down emissions).

Outside the M25 ArenaFlowers.com uses Parcelforce (next door to them so no more emissions than necessary), leveraging their distribution efficiencies rather than attempting to produce a more efficient system independently.

Parcelforce will soon be offering a carbon-neutral distribution option which ArenaFlowers.com will adopt as soon as it is available.Boxes: flowers for delivery outside the M25 go in boxes.

These are made from 90 per cent recycled cardboard.

Product: 95 per cent of our bouquets contain a majority FFP flowers, but you can't give bouquets the FFP tag unless all of the constituents are FFP accredited.

Those of our products that meet this target (and our other super green products are in this special category).

Overall 80 per cent of the stems sold are FFP accredited.

Drinks and chocolates: ArenaFlowers.com stocks organic wines and chocolates.

Greetings cards are printed on sustainable board and printed using vegetable-based inks.

We receive them in biodegradable wrappers.

Recognition/Accreditation: The FFP label is applied to flowers and plants grown by farmers throughout the world employing strict socially and environmentally ethical working practices.

Once a flower or plant has been given an FFP label, it stays with them from field to market to importer to retailer and finally on to the customer, with each link in the chain adhering to FFP's rules.

Customers buying FFP bouquets from us can rest assured that the growers undergo regular and intensive internationally agreed scrutiny by the relevant authorities in the country of origin.

The FFP organisation has the backing of the EC and the International Labour Organisation and is unique to the flowers industry.

FFP was set up in response to some of the weaknesses in the Fairtrade model.

ArenaFlowers.com has been given Ethical Company Organisation (ECO) accreditation.

It is the UK's only Corporate Level Ethical Company Accreditation Scheme and carefully analyses all areas of an enterprise's Corporate Social Responsibility.

ArenaFlowers.com is the UK's first and only florist to hold ECO Accreditation.

Other brands to have achieved ECO recognition include Innocent Drinks, Good Energy and Divine Chocolate.

ArenaFlowers.com is also to be recommended in The GOOD Shopping Guide 2008, the bible of ethical consumerism, and Greenpeace lists ArenaFlowers.com as one of its recommended ethical stores.

ArenaFlowers.com was an exhibitor at ABN Amro's environmental awareness day 2007.

ArenaFlowers.com has just instigated an external environmental audit of its business practices.

ArenaFlowers.com is the leading online florist in the UK.

It launched in September 2006 offering the highest quality ethically sourced flowers from around the world.

Arena Flowers offers a fresher experience to customers, guaranteeing that all products reach the intended recipient several days fresher than if they had come from almost any other UK florist.

The company does this by cutting out the wholesalers and middlemen, reducing time and money, which can be passed onto the end customer, without compromise to one of the company's core values - to source all produce ethically where possible.

Will Wynne, Arena Flowers MD, said: "We are the first UK florist to sell FFP-accredited flowers; the decision to source and supply these flowers was one we took very early on, as we felt it was the right thing to do, for a number of reasons.

"The flowers are no more expensive than less ethically sound flowers, there is growing demand for sustainable products such as these from consumers, and it provides a point of differentiation for us as a business.

"As part of my job, I try to ensure that we keep our ethical credentials in mind for all decision making; be that in having our greetings cards printed on sustainable paper, sourcing organic wines and chocolates to sell as add ons, and even having a carbon neutral server for our site.

"There are other initiatives too, like optimising our business model to cut out waste, and ensuring that we reduce our carbon footprint in distribution too.".

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