With a current estimated worth of more than ?2 billion, the cut flower industry in the UK is massive. Sales are divided between high-street florists, online florists but supermarkets make up 70% of the market.

Domestic production is pretty small scale so 90% of the flowers sold in the UK are imported from overseas. Up until relatively recently, most of the flowers imported into Britain came from Holland. Now, however, most come from Kenya and Colombia.

You might think that flying all these flowers in from farms in the Southern Hemisphere must have a massive impact on the environment. However, because they are grown in warm climates ? their natural climates in most cases ? they require less intensive energy usage to grow, therefore importing from Kenya and Colombia is actually more environmentally friendly.

In addition to this, if you buy Fairtrade flowers you will also be helping local communities in the developing world to earn a decent living and develop their own businesses to compete with giant global conglomerates.

So how does Fairtrade work? Basically, it means workers are paid a fair wage, they work in safe environments and the whole community and local environment benefit from the flower cultivation. This allows us as consumers to make informed choices about the flowers we buy.

Overall, the Fairtrade industry is worth ?1.6 billion and the Fairtrade flower industry makes up ?33.4 million of this. It also helps 7 million people in 58 developing countries around the globe.

According to the Fairtrade Association, 'Fairtrade is a strategy for poverty alleviation and sustainable development. Its purpose is to create opportunities for producers and workers who have been economically disadvantaged or marginalised by the conventional trading system.'

So what are the benefits for poor farmers? A price is negotiated between producer and buyer that reflects market value as well as intensity of production and relative living costs. Online florists can work directly with Fairtrade farmers to cut out the middleman used in the sale of supermarket flowers. This means more money and power goes to the producers in developing countries.

Thanks to the Internet, online florists can work directly with Fairtrade farmers to cut out the middleman used in the sale of supermarket flowers. This means more money and power goes to the producers in developing countries. Another bonus is that emissions will be reduced as one deliver driver can deliver flowers to numerous locations, instead of numerous drives picking up flowers from the supermarket.

Maricruz Tennill started getting their flowers online from Interflora a long time ago and has reccomended them ever since.