While working on this project, I’ve come across challenges that I didn’t expect at the start. One of the biggest was realising how little life cycle assessment (LCA) research exists on potted plants, especially compared to cut flowers. At first, I was worried this would limit my ability to make meaningful comparisons. But as I […]

Writing a literature review seemed intimidating at first. It’s not just “summarising articles” like I did in undergrad. I realised that a good review requires identifying patterns, gaps, and tensions, and that takes a different kind of focus. To help myself get started, I created a spreadsheet with columns for author, year, flower type studied, […]

After my supervisor meeting, I felt a lot clearer about where my project was going. One of the most important outcomes was that I stopped thinking of the project as something I had to “go out and collect data” for. Instead, I started seeing it as an opportunity to bring together what others have already […]

Before my first supervisor meeting, I felt a little anxious—not because I didn’t have ideas, but because I had too many. I wrote up a one-page summary of my potential research topic and included three possible versions: one that involved interviews, one that used only literature, and one that was somewhere in between. I also […]

One of the things I appreciate most about the EFI programme is how it encourages us to think across disciplines. I didn’t realise, until halfway through the term, how much of what I was learning in different modules connected with my project idea. Especially in the Circular Economy and Sustainable Systems classes, we talked about […]

Plants and flowers brighten up our spaces, bring freshness, and make for wonderful gifts, adding a touch of nature indoors. But has anyone ever thought about the environmental impact of their favorite blooms? Recently, I’ve been exploring the differences between potted plants and cut flowers, and it turns out their environmental footprints vary significantly. Potted […]

Floriculture is a big part of urban retail, but it also creates environmental problems like waste, carbon emissions, and high resource use. Some businesses may already be trying to be more sustainable, but they might not think of these efforts as part of a circular economy (CE). My project aims to create a simple guide […]

When I first started thinking about my KIPP project, I only had a vague idea: I wanted to do something related to plants and sustainability. I imagined something practical, maybe involving community gardens, household plant waste, or creative reuse of plant materials. My early ideas included interviewing local florists or conducting fieldwork at plant markets […]

When we first began planning our Futures Project, I had a long list of things I was interested in—urban greening, food waste, indoor farming, plant-based materials… it was exciting, but also totally overwhelming. I realised that while I cared about all these things, I couldn’t do everything. One important moment was reading examples from past […]

I’ve always loved having plants around me. There’s something special about watching a tiny seedling grow into a lush green plant, knowing that with a little care, it can thrive for years. That’s why my room is filled with potted plants—some growing in old plastic bottles, others in repurposed ice cream tubs and empty wine […]