Doom and Bloom

Most Mother's Day flowers are far from green

Oodles of Americans will buy flowers for their moms for Mother's Day (that's this Sunday, you slackers), but not many will consider the environmental impacts. Conventionally grown flowers "are such a high-value crop that it takes a huge amount of pesticides to make them perfect," said Pesticide Action Network's Martha Olson Jarocki. And nearly 70 percent of cut flowers sold in the U.S. are imported from countries like Ecuador and Colombia, where labor is cheap and pesticide regulations less stringent. Still, if you're not ready to think outside the bouquet, try buying organic or locally grown blooms, or plan ahead for next year and grow them yourself. Ma will appreciate it -- and even if she doesn't, well, Mother Earth will.