Every month we witness different events and activities on campus and in our neighborhood, and often we see beautiful flower arrangements and fabulous bouquets. These lovely flowers add much vitality and colors to the events, and are often an integral part of many celebratory occasions. But what happens when the events are over? They may also be a source of floral waste and possibly leave some negative impact on the environment. People may have overlooked this issue.
The University is mindful on this and is determined to bring about an opportunity to remind the campus community about the environmental costs of having the flowers dumped in a landfill. The University, therefore, planned and organized its first graduation bouquets collection activity in November 2019. Eye-catching collection points were set up in conspicuous areas on campus to invite the campus community to donate and share their bouquets.
The collected bouquets were then collected by Fleurdot, a local green organization that helps to upcycle the flowers. Members of Fleurdot will then carefully break them down into micro-bouquets and deliver them to people who will benefit from the blooms, such as patients in hospices and treatment facilities.
As part of PolyU's work to empower the campus community to adopt sustainable values, this bouquet collection activity was held with a difference and an impact. This activity sets the scene to change the conversation about floral waste. It tells there is so much we can do with the elegant arrangements of flowers after our events and ceremonies. With just some little thoughts, we can repurpose the flowers and save them from being thrown away. We can give them a second life and re-gift them to other people, extending the veritable beauty of the flowers. When we celebrate all the exquisite colors and textures of the bouquets in our hands, let the petals remind us how we can help make the world a better place. Our decisions and personal responsibility can produce meaningful results for people and the planet.
