FREE flower seedlings are part of the new approach global beauty product company, Burt's Bees, is taking to lift awareness of the world's pollination needs.
Launching in Australia this month, Burt's Bees is encouraging consumers to help save the bees by launching a Limited Edition Bring Back The Bees Lip Balm, featuring plantable paper inside the pack.
Since an estimated 15.6 million hectares of native Australian forests were destroyed in the 2020 bushfires, the company has also partnered with flower delivery service, Floraly, to spread the word and do its part to help protect the bees.
Every bouquet purchased will include a Burt's Bees limited-edition Bring Back the Bees Pomegranate Lip Balm.
Each pack includes a strip of plantable seeded paper containing Swan River Daisy seeds, a plant known for its bee-friendly flowers.
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The native flower thrives across Australia all year round, in either a pot or garden, to enable customers to grow their own bee-friendly environment at home or work.
Burt's Bees Australia and New Zealand marketing director, Joy Delis, said bees are responsible for the pollination of the global ecosystem and are also responsible for one-third of the food that humans consume each day.
"Without the bees, we'd have no flowers, fruits, vegetables, seeds, nuts or other important crops such as cotton and flax," Ms Delis said.
"We would also potentially have a domino effect that would disturb the earth's biodiversity.
"The Bring Back The Bees Pack is a small, yet important, effort from Burt's Bees to invite consumers to become powerful pollinators and support bee health in their own garden."
Floraly has created a Bee Friendly Bouquet, which will be made up of the flowers that Australian native bees love, including paper daisies, snap dragons, boronia flowers and proteas, accented with woolly bush and gum foliage.
Floraly chief executive officer and co-founder, Tristan Sender, said the business understands the importance of bees in the environment and food chain.
"We want to make sustainable and responsible gift-giving a reality for everyone. We take great care in the flowers we source and share with our customers, so we're proud to be able to extend this onto their friends, the bees," he said.
He said around one in three florist flowers die in a store or warehouse before being bought but his company only acquires flowers after they have been ordered, creating less waste and leaving more for the bees.
Burt's Bees has supported bee researchers in the US, Europe and Korea, as well as in Australia.
A portion of proceeds from the sale of each Limited Edition Bring Back the Bees Pomegranate Lip Balm will go to the Wheen Bee Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation that promotes bee-health awareness and research in Australia.
Burt's Bees Bring Back the Bees Pomegranate Lip Balm is available from Chemist Warehouse, Priceline and Woolworths for $6.95.
The Floraly Bee Friendly Bouquet is available for $65.
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