ASHS 2025 Conference

Having bloomed into a multi-billion dollar industry, floral industry businesses are striving for sustainable solutions to their environmental, social, and economic impact. However, information regarding how often sustainable practices are being used is largely unknown. There is limited comprehensive data on the current state and future plans of sustainability within the sector. Consequently, the study addresses the need to understand the sustainability practices among florists in the United States. Surveys were distributed via industry groups such as: American Floral Endowment, Society of American Florists, American Specialty Cut Flower Growers, American Hort’s Cultivate; accumulating to a total of 107 respondents. In order to provide a diverse representation of the industry, growers, suppliers, wholesalers, and florists were surveyed. This presentation will focus exclusively on florist results. The results show that while florists exhibit strong personal motivations for sustainability, significant barriers persist. For example, cost remains the top barrier to adoption. These findings emphasize the need for increased educational efforts and resources to support current sustainable practices and adoption of future practices of florists. Ultimately, this research opens the door for any florist thinking about incorporating sustainability into their company by identifying the issues that other florists are currently facing.