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Millions of roses get handed out on Valentine's Day. But growing roses has an environmental impact worse than many other crops.
每年情人节，情人们会送出上百万朵玫瑰花。然而，种植玫瑰对环境的影响比许多其它作物都要严重。
Start with climate change: most roses in the U.S. and Europe are imported from warmer climes. All that flying and trucking adds thousands of metric tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.
首先是气候变化：美国和欧洲的大多数玫瑰都是从较温暖地区进口的。空运、陆运会向大气排入上千吨二氧化碳。
Then there's all the water needed to, well, water the flowers. And the runoff fouled by copious quantities of pesticides needed to make the roses look perfect.
其次是水资源，玫瑰需要大量的水来浇灌。此外是被污染的径流，因为玫瑰还需要大量的农药来施肥，这样才能看起来完美无瑕。
There's also the wildlife and workers poisoned by all that fumigation. Add to that habitat destruction where floral plantations displace native forest and wetlands.
并且熏蒸处理会使野生物和工作人员中毒。再加上花卉种植园取代了原生森林和湿地，对栖息地造成了破坏，。
Finally, there's the refrigeration needed to keep those blooms fresh. The electricity is often produced by burning fossil fuels, and the refrigerant gases also exacerbate climate change.
最后，这些玫瑰需要被冷藏起来，这样才能保持新鲜。而冷藏所需的电力通常是由燃烧的化石燃料生产的，且制冷气体也会进一步加剧气候变化。
A more sustainable and, possibly, more romantic approach is to go with flowers certified by outfits like VeriFlora or, even better, whatever flowers are in season locally. Of course, that's not much help for those of us in wintry climes. Maybe try writing a poem. Let's see: Roses are red, violets are blue…
也许有一种更可持续的，更浪漫的方法，那就是买经过像 VeriFlora 这样的机构认证的鲜花。或者用当地的时令鲜花取代玫瑰，这样会更好。当然，在冬季不会有多大帮助。或许我们可以尝试着写诗。想想看：鲜红的是玫瑰，蓝色的是紫罗兰...
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