Your love for these is destroying the planet

And so comes that most lovely time of year, when lovers kiss, the bees and birds have sex, and those already depressed from the bad weather and failed New Years resolutions get further depressed. Valentines Day is upon us ladies and gents, and I'm sure the ol Saint would be proud to have his noble named affixed to such a commercial (albeit fun) worldwide venture.

Yet now this hallowed institution (that, after all, is only around to spread love. And sell cards) has come under fire, not from cynical nerr-do-wells, but rather from planet loving environmentalists. It seems that one of the most cherished aspects of this occasion is horrible for the environment, namely the giving of roses. Specifically, they take offense at the fact that (given the chilly climate of most westernized areas this time of year), the flowers in question must travel quite some distance, using an uncalled for quantity of fuel.

"In the past three years, the amount of flowers imported from the Netherlands has fallen by 47 per cent to 94,000 tons, while those from Africa have risen 39 per cent to 17,000 tons. Environmentalists warned that "flower miles" could have serious implications on climate change in terms of carbon dioxide emissions from aeroplanes."

Alright. This complaint isn't totally without base, but come on now. The same could be said for virtually any import that isn't 100% necessary... cars, a number of textile products, various spices and foodstuffs, furniture et al, have all been imported via airplane for quite some time now. To pick on flowers (the growth of which, by the by, should offset at least some of the carbon dioxide emitted by the airplanes that carry them) seems somewhat foolish, and basically opportunistic, given our Valentines leanings these days. Do you really have to make us feel bad for giving our sweethearts flowers? Surely there are more relevant environmental points of interest on which you can concentrate.

Besides, does anyone seriously think the excuse "but honey, roses are bad for the environment" will fly? At all?

Yeah, not really.