Flower parade's bid to be greener despite imports

This year's Battle of Flowers is aiming to be "as green as it possibly can" - despite having to rely on imported plants.

Martyn Maguire, chairman of the Battle of Flowers Association, said a trial of growing flowers on Jersey had been unsuccessful, but the team behind the parade would consider trying again in the future.

Ahead of the event taking place on Friday and Saturday, the Government of Jersey has agreed to waive costs for dealing with all of the green waste produced.

Float-maker Rachael Ollivro said her team was making every effort to use recycled cardboard, newspapers and nappy boxes as it was "important to make sure things are sustainable".

There are different categories at the Battle of Flowers for floats made of real or paper flowers.

Maguire said the event was trying to be as environmentally friendly as possible while keeping costs down.

He said the government agreeing to dispose of waste was "a great help to the event".

Maguire highlighted the project's other sustainability efforts, such as re-purposing timber, using more eco-friendly glue and composting of any remaining waste.

However, he conceded efforts to grow flowers on the island had been unsuccessful, with most continuing to be sourced from the Netherlands.

"Unfortunately, greenhouse space in Jersey is now very, very limited," Maguire said.

"We did do a trial last year of growing some flowers, but unfortunately they didn't take.

"It is something we're looking at for the future."

He said the event was working with growers to try and lower its carbon footprint, but he said because flowers are shipped to the UK before Jersey, it presented "some issues".

"We try and work around, but it's a difficult one logistically, because it's a Battle of Flowers and we need flowers," he said.

Ollivro, the senior designer of the Ollivro Family & Friends entries, said her team had stripped back flowers from last year, ironed them and re-used them to decorate model monkeys for this year.

"Every model on our senior and junior floats is made of recycled cardboard," she said.

"The way things are moving now, its important to make sure things are sustainable.

"We need to make sure everything that we're doing is a step in the right direction."

Marina Noel, who organises the junior float in Grouville, said they had challenged young volunteers to be greener this year.

That has included creating a giant pineapple out of an old water butt and getting unused paint second-hand.

"They've used plumber's lagging that would have just ended up going into rubbish, they've used the tubes inside carpets and they've looked at lots of materials from last year that they've been able to reuse, like some hessian and wood off cuts," she said.

She said the next generation of Battle enthusiasts "want to see a less disposable environment".

Noel added as a small island, it would be "wrong to keep creating more rubbish".

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