Celebrating with shattered petals
With graduation season upon us – along with spring and summer wedding season – some revelers may be tempted to celebrate by tossing confetti in the air. While exciting in the moment, those little pieces of plastic can cause long-lasting harm to our environment.
Knowing this, Isabella Dodson of Texas State (along with Cole Etheredge of Mississippi State and Tina Waliczek Cade of Texas State) decided to study the market potential for dried flower petal confetti produced from floral retailer organic waste.
“Plastic confetti is a huge problem,” Dodson said. “There are currently no restrictions even in environmentally protected areas.”
Microplastics are increasingly a global environmental threat. They have been detected in the soil, freshwater and ocean systems, groundwater, the atmosphere and plants and animals. The purpose of Dodson’s study was to investigate the value, marketability and consumer willingness to pay for a recycled dried flower petal confetti product created from retail floral providers’ organic waste.
Dodson noted that retail floral shops generate vast amounts of organic waste, which is often discarded to landfills which then contributes to methane emissions and environmental degradation.
There are potential benefits to floral retailers routing organic waste toward composting or reuse. Saving money on trash hauling is one. And research shows consumers will pay more at florists who are environmentally conscious.
Dodson said collection and processing is “super simple and sustainable.” Shattered flower petals and foliage were collected from a local flower shop weekly and a university-level floral design class. All types of flowers and foliage were used. This was to encourage diverse texture and color.
The materials were air-dried in a dark room, laid out in thin layers on cardboard boxes. Once they dried, they were transferred into storage until they were packaged in 1- or 2-cup quantities in small paper sacks. They were labeled with stickers outlining their recycled nature and source.
Then, surveys were conducted – 253 total, with a visual and tactile sample of the floral confetti being made available. Participants were asked if they use confetti and if they planned to purchase confetti for a graduation event. Then they were asked to consider a sample of the flower petal confetti and how much they would be willing to pay for a bag – the price range being based on what they’d be willing to pay for plastic confetti.
Most survey respondents were female (69%) and white (62%) – typical, as these demographics tend to be more drawn in by floral products. A total of 85% said they never/rarely use confetti, which is normal, as it’s not an everyday product. However, 40% said they would use confetti in the future, and 38% replied that two cups would be an appropriate amount.
As for the pricing component, for a similar size, plastic confetti usually costs about $3. The survey found 26.1% of respondents said they’d pay $3 to $5 for a floral product.
“The value proposition went up when potential customers were asked about environmental benefits and keeping waste from landfills,” Dodson reported.
She again noted recent research which found floral consumers are willing to pay more for products from florists who implement sustainable practices in their operations, so the practice of drying floral waste could have this value as well.
“This product saves materials from going into landfills,” Dodson said. “This is a novel product with overwhelming benefits – and helping protect waterways and soils is a huge one.”
If you participate in floriculture and work with a florist, see if they would be interested in creating petal confetti. Dodson said one of the biggest hindrances is space – in florists’ shops, this comes at a premium, but on a farm, there may be a lot more area to air-dry petals and foliage.
by Courtney Llewellyn
