Sustainability Policy

Sustainability Policy

Sustainability is at the heart of Austin Bloom design and product philosophy. ‘Sustainability’ is complex, but for us includes environmental impact, fair and ethical production processes which don’t exploit people or animals, localisation of production where possible, and products designed to last. We do not endorse cheaply made products which break down within years, months or even weeks. Floristry itself is a notoriously wasteful industry, both in the waste of flowers after events, plastic used throughout and chemicals involved in shipping flowers around the world. In our 10 years of practising floristry this never sat right with us,especially for such ‘natural’ medium as flowers. Now, we use flowers in a considered way.

Product quality

Our products are designed to be sustainable and to last. They are robust, strong and easy to maintain. For example, we use archival-museum-grade canvas for our wall hangings which lasts for 120 years indoors.

Production Waste

At every step in the design and production process, we seek to minimise waste and reuse scraps and off-cuts.

Materials

We use natural materials such as wood, canvas or other plant derived materials. When using animal products such as leather, we use sustainable and ethically farmed sources. We use upcycled, recycled or repurposed materials wherever we can.

Plastic

Where plastic is used (such as particular canvas) our products are designed to last and last (and last) and to be passed down generations. We are actively researching how to use recycled plastics in our materials our base materials.

Re-gifting

If you have outgrown a particular Austin Bloom product, please do not throw it out! Re-gift it to someone else, or return it to us and we’ll find a new home for it.

Floristry

We use locally grown flowers as much as we can when creating sculptures, installations or print designs. Instead of plastic form structures and foam oasis, we use reusable wire frames and biodegradable floral wool. We are moving away from chemically dyed and preserved flowers, and instead drying our own and sourcing locally.