We need to stop the culture of "floral tributes"

I totally agree. Yes I totally understand the sense of grief and shock and the urge to communicate with the bereaved family.

But they are an environmental disaster, a total waste of money and utterly grotesque and mawkish in the extreme.

@Ontomatopea there is a sign and we’ve asked the family. It makes no difference so the tax payer is paying me at least an hours wages a week to go and clear it up.

Realistically, it would take people two seconds to take the plastic wrapping off of the flowers and dispose of it responsibly instead of leaving it to pollute the environment. I don’t think it’s really a big ask!

A little girl has just been stabbed and killed while out playing with her hula hoop and your overriding concern is about a bit of litter? 🤔

OP, your point is a good one.
But I'm just going to repeat that using this recent tragedy as fuel for your topic is really distasteful. You could totally talk about balloon releases and cellophane-wrapped flowers on MN WITHOUT mentioning the brutal and very recent murder of a 9-year-old child.

I really can't see how cuddly toys that inevitably get dirty and bedraggled are any sort of tribute.

I think the making of shrines and visual symbols of someone that has passed is something innately human and not connected to religion. And of course some of these people will also be religious, just because not everybody is doesn't mean some people are. It's not for everyone, but I think we all do it in our ways. Some people will have lots of photos on the wall, of family and friends who are still here and those who have gone. Others will display family China or heirlooms or medals and trophy's. Or make a special garden for them. People grieve in their own ways, and pray in their own ways (and many more people pray than those that call it prayer). These street side shrines make me very sad when I see them, and that's the point as well. A visual reminder that somebody has left this world on that spot or used to live there. A reminder of the preciousness of life, or the person that has gone. I think it's really important to have a place to come and share memories and tokens for some people, and we don't get to decide that somebody is grieving wrong for not considering the environmental impact in all things. But that could be something that is taken off their shoulders by greeting cards being biodegradable and flowers not being sold in cellophane

Funeral flower requests are completely different.

You were talking about the tributes that people leave spontaneously in the immediate aftermath of a death, not the formally organised ceremony weeks afterwards. It’s fair enough to ask people for family flowers only at a funeral because the funeral itself is providing the thing that people need by bringing them together and giving them something to do and focus on.

What do you suggest in place of the tributes that people leave in the place of the death separate to the funeral?

I really wish something could be done about balloon releases.

Oh OP... waste= not good. I agree with you.
But we're talking about flowers for a child who died brutally.
This whole thread is just so woefully unpleasant.
Put another sugar in your coffee and have it deleted.
Come on, OP.

A better request would be to florists (or more accurately supermarkets) not to wrap their flowers in cellophane.

Visual displays are very comforting. I really can’t get upset about them

If we could make the cellophane from biodegradable materials and make balloons made with biodegradable materials I don't see the problem with either. The flowers are a way to show compassion for the grieving, personal or community grief. The only thing that needs to change is what they are wrapped in

You have your own experience & opinion and I have mine.
An interesting debate though

I think it would be nicer if there could be donation to something more permanent.
A man was murdered not far from here about 3 years ago and people still leave flowers, teddies and little trinkets outside the house.

Humans are always looking for reasons or excuses to justify our wasteful behaviour and choices that are bad for the planet. Manufacturers shouldn't be allowed to sell flowers in cellophane for a start. People should choose flowers that are locally grown and cut and unwrapped. Helium balloons should be banned.

There are many cultures who come together to support each other in grief or celebration without damaging the planet. It is possible.

I disagree. I had a close family member die last week. They had family flowers only at the funeral, everyone else gave donations. We were unable to attend as we live on the other side of the world and couldn't get back in time, and my work sent me a beautiful bunch of flowers which were very much appreciated. There was no cellophane, the flowers I received were tied with paper and string. Perhaps there is some merit in asking that people be more thoughtful in what they give, but people are usually grieving and just want to do something to show they are thinking of the people left behind. This would be way down my list of things to get bothered about.

Then you're free to do it in a different way 🤷🏻‍♀️

But you don't get to tell other people how they're supposed to show their grief.

What would you suggest ? I mean you can say at funerals which is perfectly acceptable, but do you really expect no tributes on sites where people/children have been murdered.

Why do so many people on MN want to control what others do to such a large extent?

Look at the amount of plastic waste the average family generates on a weekly basis from food packaging. Or the amount of rubbish generated by a trip to McDonalds.

I don't disagree that we should all be working much, much harder to reduce waste, and I'm not a fan of whataboutery, but I honestly don't think tributes to a 9 year old girl who has been murdered is the place I'd start in a campaign against waste.

That's you and your family. I took great comfort in choosing some flowers for my nans funeral. Why should I have been stopped from doing so when people are allowed to buy shit loads of flowers for their wedding day. Target those who aren't grieving first.

Lots of people don't want to donate to charity for various reasons.

@Twiglets1 its quite common to request no flowers. Getting mourners to respect that request is quite another.

community offerings brings the family some comfort, to know they have a lot of community feeling/support.

what we 'need' is for flowers to be sold in environmentally friendly wrappings.

the balloons need to stop until someone creates something that's not going to harm wildlife (edible maybe?).

the teddies upset me, they just get all dirty & soggy. I'd rather they were donated in the name of x, to hospitals, charities etc.

A teddy which a child will never get to hug just seems too sad as well.