What’s the deal with floral foam?

Floral foam has been a source of contention for the floristry industry of late.

These green, sponge-like foam blocks are an easy way to arrange flowers and keep them hydrated with very little mess. In more recent years it’s also become popular on social media ASMR videos because of the satisfying crunching sound it makes when you crush it.

Unfortunately the ease of floral foam comes at a high cost to the environment, with researchers finding that it is contributing to microplastic pollution in our oceans, and the toxic chemicals used to make it are harming the sea animals who consume it.

What is floral foam?

Just about any florist in the industry today will have used floral foam at some point in their career, if not every day.

Floral foam was invented by Smithers-Oasis in the 1950s in the U.S. and quickly became the material of choice for floral arrangements. It’s lightweight, easy to cut and mould, and is able to hold up to 50 times its own weight in water. Floral foam is relatively cheap too, making it all the more appealing to florists just getting started in their businesses.

Floral foam became the catalyst for more complicated floristry designs, opening up a new world of possibilities for floral designers. Suddenly, they could create hanging installations, arches, table centrepieces and other large designs with relative ease.

What is floral foam made of?

The unfortunate truth of floral foam is that it’s made of plastic.

Specifically, a type of plastic similar to house insulation foam known as phenol formaldehydes. These were the first plastics to be developed in the early 1900s.

To get into the science-y bit, floral foam is made using phenol, formaldehyde polymers, surfactants, and wetting agents. Both phenol and formaldehyde are considered to be hazardous chemicals as well as carcinogens, however, they are mixed with non-hazardous substances to form floral foam.

Is floral foam toxic?

Short answer, no. Long answer, kind of.

While floral foam can cause eye, skin and respiratory tract irritation, it is not considered toxic when handled under normal conditions. This is because the toxic chemicals found in your standard block of foam are present in very low concentrations.

However, while it may not be toxic to a florist who is handling it semi-regularly, a recent study found that the toxins are causing problems for the sea animals who are ingesting them as microplastics.

This study also showed that the toxic phenols were able to separate from the floral foam into the water, which means that sea animals are swimming around in water that contains toxins and microplastic floral foam particles.

What is floral foam’s effect on the environment?

This same study from RMIT University completed tests on invertebrates that consumed floral foam. What they found was that the species displayed signs of toxicity upon ingestion. The study also noted that, ‘Biofoam microplastics leached more than twice as much phenolic compounds than regular foam microplastics.’ This means the microplastics leaching out of floral foam are doing more damage to our sea life than any other foam microplastics.

While research has not yet been carried out on the effects of foam microplastics in larger sea species, it’s already a widely known fact that most sea life contains microplastics. A comparison study done by the University of Adelaide on microplastics in fish in Australia and Fiji found that, ‘In Australia, plastic was found in 61.6% of fish gastrointestinal tracts, while in Fiji, 35.3% of fish had plastic.’ If we’re already ingesting microplastics from the fish we eat, it’s not a stretch to assume we have already or will eventually be ingesting toxic phenols from floral foam in our seafood too.

Rita Feldmann, founder of the Sustainable Floristry Network is quoted as saying, “For an industry that seeks to celebrate nature, we are actually adding to environmental problems when using this product,” when talking about floral foam. It’s hoped that the scientific findings will discourage florists across the globe from turning to floral foam, opting instead for more sustainable methods of arranging.

But it’s not just florists who are flushing their fair share of foam down the drain––floral foam has recently gained popularity on social media in ASMR (Autonomous sensory meridian response) videos. The highly satisfying, crisp sound it makes as it’s crushed has people flocking to these videos for that ASMR scalp tingling sensation. And, to top it all off, some creators will even add glitter (another microplastic) to the foam, before washing it all down the sink.

Even if floral foam is disposed of in the bin, it goes to land-fill where it won’t break down and can’t be composted, just continuing to leak toxins into the environment.

What can I do about it?

The simplest way you can make a difference when it comes to floral foam is to stop using it.

While it can seem intimidating initially to forgo a material that’s been vital to your arrangements for as long as you’ve been in floristry, there are a lot of really good alternatives out there.

We actually put together a list of floral foam alternatives that you can check out here.

Another great way to help out in the sustainable floristry space is to educate yourself and start filling up your online space with like-minded, sustainable florists. Some great accounts to follow on Instagram are:

@nofloralfoam – focused on raising awareness about plastic floral foam and alternative floristry techniques
@sustainablefloristry – connecting sustainable florists and growers in Australia
@newagefloral – focused on providing sustainable alternatives for florists

If you want to learn more about incorporating sustainable practices into your floristry, our sister school, Thrive Flower School, is running a bunch of courses that teach sustainable floristry techniques as well as how to implement them in your business. We’d love to see you there!

When floral foam was invented in the U.S. back in 1954, it quickly took over the floristry industry, becoming a florist’s best friend. A block of green, sponge-like foam that not only holds flowers in place but keeps them hydrated and easy to transport? It was a dream come true.

Fast-track to the present day, and floral foam has become something of a controversial topic among florists.

Floral foam is extremely harmful to the environment.

Each foam block is equal to ten plastic bags, and they are not biodegradable or recyclable. They end up as the microplastics that are floating around in our ocean.

Floral foam also contains elements that are considered to be carcinogenic, like formaldehyde, carbon black and barium sulphates. While the extremely small quantities found in single blocks are not harmful in small doses, long term exposure could cause side effects.

The hard part is, floral foam is so useful for florists. It’s lightweight, easy to cut and mould, and transporting it is a breeze. A 2019 study by RMIT University of 1200 florists around the world found that two-thirds of florists used floral foam, and 72% poured the foam wastewater down the drain.

So what alternatives are there?

Here are a few that we like to use at Bloom.

Chicken Wire

Chicken wire is a common alternative for floral foam, given that it’s very easy to use. The mesh holes are perfect for slotting flowers into, and if you leave the leaves on your stems, the wire will catch on these and more firmly hold your flowers in place. Chicken wire can even be wound around arches or larger structures to act as a base for grand arrangements like hanging or table arrangements. If you’re creating an arrangement in a vase, you can roll the mesh into a ball and stick it into the container. This way your flowers will stay still and can still reach the water. Chicken wire is both reusable and planet-friendly, so it’s easy to see why it’s a popular choice.

Kenzans/Flower Frogs

Kenzans (also known as flower frogs) are essentially metal discs with pins that sit in the base of a vase, originally used in the traditional Japanese art of flower arrangement known as Ikebana. Flowers are pressed onto the pins, where the pins hold them in place within the arrangement. Pressing the flower stem onto the pin opens up the base and lets the flower absorb water more quickly. Sure Stik is commonly used to anchor the kenzan within your vase/vessel. Kenzans are super easy to clean, and most importantly, they’re good for the environment.

Water Vials

Water vials are small plastic tubes (they look a bit like test tubes) which you fill with water and insert your flower stem into to keep it hydrated. Most water vials will have a flexible rubber cap that fits tight around the stem so there’s no water leakage. Often florists will use these in conjunction with chicken wire, so the flowers stay in place while also staying hydrated.

Water vials come in all different sizes, and most importantly, they can be reused as many times as you like. As long as you wash and clean them well between uses so there’s no bacteria growth, water vials can be a much more eco-friendly approach to floristry. For delicate flowers that need a little extra love and care, you can add a tiny amount of flower food to the vial water to give them a boost. If you want an option where this is done for you, you can try FLOSPAC’s.

Moss

Moss can easily be utilised to help hold your flowers in place, when used with other materials. Use compacted moss inside chicken wire to hold flowers in place for an installation, or grab those old floral foam cages from past events––you can place moss or even wood wool inside as a sustainable alternative for your event florals! You can usually grab moss from a wholesaler or online from speciality garden retailers. If you can’t get your hands on live moss, feel free to grab some Sphagnum Moss from Bunnings––that works too!

Wood Wool

While wood wool is mostly used for packing wine, food and other more fragile items for postage, it can also be a useful tool for flower arranging. It can absorb water to a certain degree, and you can scrunch it up inside a vase to create a firm base to insert flowers into. It also looks good, adding that rustic, farm-fresh feel to your arrangements.

Wood wool is made of shredded timber fibres, which makes it entirely eco-friendly, compostable and biodegradable.

Pebbles/Rocks

Placing river pebbles or rocks in a vase, vessel or pot is another good way of keeping your flowers in place. As long as they’re packed in tightly, the flowers won’t be moving very far. You can also pour the pebbles/rocks in around the finished arrangement to keep the flowers from shifting. The other benefit of using pebbles is that they can add a decorative touch to the overall arrangement, especially if the vase is clear. Being a natural product, pebbles are obviously able to be reused and are a great eco-friendly alternative to foam.

There are so many alternatives out there to harmful floral foam, so we really encourage you to get creative and look at other options when it comes to creating your arrangements.

At Bloom, we’re all about sustainability in floristry, and educating future florists how to run a sustainable floristry business. If you’re interested in learning more about how to incorporate sustainable practices into your floristry, check out the courses our sister school, Thrive Flower School, is running!

Every course addresses the importance of sustainable practices and how to integrate these into your business.

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