Don't say it with flowers? Battle aims for home-grown buds after petition criticism

Monday 07 August 2023

Organisers of the Battle of Flowers have said they will try to use more home-grown flowers in the future after the event's carbon footprint was criticised in a petition calling for non-real blooms to be used instead.

Maddie Jule, a student who grew up in Jersey and has been a regular attendee at the annual pageant, has called for a ban on the use of real flowers in decorating the floats that make up the Battle parades.

Paper flowers have been used on floats since 1978, allowing the smaller clubs and community organisations to take part in the parade.

Ms Jule said that the use of cut flowers was not environmentally sustainable, citing three main reasons: the carbon emissions involved in transporting flowers from the Netherlands and UK, the high volumes of water used by growers, and the inability to compost flowers after they'd been affixed with non eco-friendly glue.

Pictured: Paper flowers were used on this Oliver Twist-themed float for St. Helier.

She said: "Battle is symbolic with Jersey – I love the event and it's a great way for people to come together, but it's awful for the environment on so many levels.

"It's not possible to just carry on doing something the same way because that's what's always happened – changes need to be made now, or the future of the event will be at risk."

Ms Jule said younger islanders were more likely to be adversely affected by climate change in the future, and called for their views on the matter to be respected by Battle die-hards.

While the online petition has gathered little more than 20 signatures so far, Battle of Flowers Chair Russell Labey has pledged to act on its principles.

"In response to the climate crisis, we are going to trial growing more of our decoration on-island, which could certainly help our pollinators," he said.