"Air Miles" emissions means 'say it with greener flowers'

1.03.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Thu 2nd Feb 2006

The Liberal Democrats have released details of research drawing attention to the increasing environmental impact of "flower miles" in Britain - the carbon dioxide emissions being created from importing thousands of tonnes of cut flowers. Commenting on the research Liberal Democrat Shadow Environment Secretary, Norman Baker MP, said "When people buy flowers they don't think they might be contributing to carbon dioxide emissions. There should be labelling of flowers with the country of origin and a role in educating the public to recognise the problems and to respond to it."

Norman went on to say "Consumers should be choosing flowers that cause minimum damage to the environment. The Government needs to be doing much more to create the conditions necessary for such a market to flourish."