As a national wholesaler focused on floristry educational initiatives, Mayesh put sustainability at the top of its educational pillars for 2023. Among the efforts – plastics reduction.

“Plastics, in particular, are tricky,” says Pat Dahlson, CEO of Mayesh. “We are really trying to move away from them where we can.”

Mayesh started working with flower growers in Ecuador to remove plastic sleeves and replace them with cardboard. In addition, once the flowers are in the United States, they are traditionally re-sleeved from one type of plastic to another.

Instead of using more plastic and more labor to re-sleeve, Mayesh has started encouraging replacements such as butcher-block paper, craft paper, and newsprint, which works particularly well for summer flowers.

“As a bonus, we are also seeing quality improvement with these changes from plastic to paper, because of the limited amount of free moisture,” Dahlson says.

Several of Mayesh’s 22 branches throughout the country offer floral bucket exchanges, where Dahlson says, “they are reused until they break.”

He points to European initiatives to ban single-use plastic, which could shift the global floral industry in that direction.

“Here in the United States, too, I’d like to see our industry drastically reduce our reliance on single-use plastics,” said Pat Dahlson. “An industry-wide call-to-action could be reducing single-use plastics by 50 percent.”

Dahlson has noticed that new entrants to the floral sector are both educated and looking to make a difference in the world, and many young employees want to boost sustainability efforts.

“We need to look like a company that can meet people where they want to be met,” Dahlson says. “We care, it’s socially responsible, and it’s smart business.”

Learn More About Sustainability at Mayesh View the Full Plastics Guide

---

Mayesh Wholesale Florist is a Proud Supporter of Sustainabloom.