One of our core values at Hoek flowers is unity, we want to unite customers, growers and industry players around the world with our shared love of flowers. It is very important to us that we connect and supply whilst thinking about the planet.
Read more about what sustainable efforts we at Hoek proudly partake in and continuously work on.
At Hoek flowers we care about creating a sustainable workplace. Therefore, the Hoek flowers building not only looks good but is also rewarded with a green certificate! It was built with the highest standards of sustainable construction in mind. The building has very high insulation values which significantly reduce the ‘waste’ of heat in our offices and the ‘waste’ of cold in our cold rooms and packing area. But our facilities are sustainable in other ways as well!
100% gas-free
The building is 100% gas-free. This means we do not need natural gas to heat our building, the water we’re using or even the stove in the company restaurant. Natural gas is a fossil fuel and its combustion leads to lots of CO₂ emission. This in turn cause temperatures to rise, warming the earth and leading to significant climate change. Since our building is 100% gas-free, our CO₂ emission is significantly reduced.
Solar panels
Let’s also talk about our roof because there is a lot happening there. Currently, our roof is covered with over 6.700 solar panels! Since not all our seasons are as sunny, we cannot cover the full 100% of our need for energy (yet). For now, we already generate 2.000.000 kWh a year, which covers 75% of the total energy we use. Our future goal is to cover a 100%... how cool (or better said - hot) would that be?
Green roof
Hoek flowers installed a 4,000 square meter sedum roof in early 2023, the largest green roof in the area. It’s being studied by Naturalis and the University of Leiden to determine which plants attract the most insects, birds, and bees, and which types of green roofs benefit the environment the most. The roof purifies the air, supports wildlife, and helps save energy due to its insulating properties—truly a win-win!
It's in the details
Coffee, one of the most important things on early mornings. Here at Hoek flowers, we drink quite a few cups. Since we find it important that suppliers worldwide – whether we talk about flowers or coffee – get fair prices, all coffee at Hoek flowers is supplied by our local coffee roastery ‘Koffie Lovers’. They only work with Fair Trade certified farms and invest a part of their turnover in local communities to give something back to the countries they get their coffee beans from.
Recyclable pink flower boxes
We’re the first in the flower industry to use reusable pink flower boxes made entirely from recycled materials—up to 200 times! Previously, we used cardboard boxes, which we recycled, but these new boxes are a game-changer. No trees or bees were harmed in their creation, and after 200 uses, they’re fully recycled with 80% reused to make new boxes.
Our innovative flower boxes not only set a new environmental standard but also streamline logistics with RFID technology, cutting costs by eliminating traditional stickers. Each year, we save 300,000 cardboard boxes. Success depends on teamwork: florists, transport companies, and employees must help by picking up, cleaning, and re-stacking the boxes.
"We already saved 157.286KG on cardboard usage!"
Recycling
Though we strive for a sustainable flower journey, we occasionally use materials like plastic. The good news is they’re recyclable! We separate all waste—plastic, green waste, cardboard, and paper—for proper recycling. You can contribute too by sorting your waste and taking it to a local recycling center. Together, we make a difference!
Facility logistics
Buckets of flowers travel across hundreds of meters of conveyor belts in our facility, but first, robots pick your orders, monitoring each stem to prevent mistakes. This automation saves time and effort, ensuring a fast and excellent shopping experience. By integrating robots, we’ve made our packing process more efficient and reduced waste.
Recyclable fust collars
In addition to our amazing (pink) recyclable flower boxes, we also use recyclable fust collars. They are used to avoid damaging and breaking our precious flowers. These collars are made from the same 100% recycled materials as our re-usable boxes and help us make the packaging process more sustainable!
Blogs about sustainability
Organic flowers from Organic growers
SustainabilityHi! Do you care about the environment as much as we do? Then our webshop is the right place for you! Especially for the sustainable florist, and for everyone who cares about the world. We also offer organic flowers that are better for the bees, and the planet!
SustainabilityHi! Do you care about the environment as much as we do? Then our webshop is the right place for you! Especially for the sustainable florist, and for everyone who cares about the world. We also offer organic flowers that are better for the bees, and the planet!
06-09-23
Green logistics, sustainable futures.
Flying Blue
Our flowers from Colombia and Kenya are flown by KLM, the world’s most sustainable airline, using fuel-efficient technology and biofuels to reduce emissions. We also work with farms to minimize emissions per stem and continuously seek ways to improve packing and logistics with local and international suppliers to cut plastic use and pollution.
What if I told you that you can now get your favorite flowers from Colombia, Kenya, and South Africa even fresher? With Origin Direct, we fly them straight from the source to your country, skipping stops in Holland. This means fewer CO₂ emissions, faster delivery, fresher flowers, and better prices—a win-win for you, the flowers, and the planet!
We actively reduce emissions by using advanced software to carefully plan and optimize our delivery routes. By streamlining logistics, we minimize unnecessary travel, which not only lowers our CO₂ emissions but also ensures that your flowers arrive faster and fresher. This efficient approach helps us contribute to a greener planet while enhancing the quality of our service for you.
Certificates
Growing and buying flowers carries great responsibility. Therefore, here at Hoek flowers, we collaborate with many growers who comply with the ‘#FSI basket of standards 2025'. FSI stands for Floriculture Sustainable Initiative and this organisation oversees certifications for social and environmentally friendly flower cultivation worldwide. We care about our planet and the people on it and we want to play our part in making sustainable flowers the global standard. That is why we are proud to work together with many great and certified farms where we know the growers personally.
Remembering all the certificates is difficult, so to make your life a little bit easier, we made an overview of the environmental labels you can find on our website.
At Hoek flowers, we’re committed to sustainability, which is why we’re always looking for innovative ways to reduce our and our florists’ environmental footprints. That’s why we’re thrilled to announce our exclusive partnership with COM:POST, offering a simple, effective solution for managing green waste across the UK. Together, we are making a positive impact by helping florists manage their waste sustainably and easily.
COM:POST provides a unique service that collects floristry green waste and transforms it into high-quality compost, which is then supplied to growers across the UK – creating a truly sustainable, closed-loop system. The way this works is with COM:POST’s compostable, waterproof paper sacks. These bags are strong, easy to use, and designed to speed up with composting process. With tailored waste collection to suit your business needs, and full transparency on where your waste goes, this service is one of a kind!
COM:POST delivers compostable bags to your shop.
You fill them with green waste (no contaminants).
Hoek flowers collects the full bags with your next order.
