TEDx Johns Hopkins University Talk: Plant Poaching & Environmental Concerns within Horticulture

On April 8, 2023 I was honored to be a featured TEDx JHU speaker! I used this opportunity to spread more awareness about a variety of environmental issues that are associated with houseplants. Stay tuned for my next blog post, in which I’ll provide an update to what follows below! Hope you find this an enjoyable and interesting read.

Imagine walking into your favorite plant shop or nursery. It’s filled with a variety of plants, native to regions all around the world, including some “rare” species that might cost a fortune. But something’s different. You appear to be in some alternate dimension, because these plants are looking back at you, with eyes that move, eyes that watch you. Eyes that get squinty and inquisitive or wide and scared. Would you still be as eager to take one home, or would it make you think of plants differently? Would your favorite plant shop feel more like an exotic pet store, raising ethical concerns? As we know, putting value on wild animals puts them at risk for poaching. Well, sadly, putting value on plants is no different. Today, right now, plants are being poached from the wild and illegally sold as houseplants. Mostly online or in open air markets, mostly to avid collectors. It’s an ecological disaster, fueled by society’s fascination and love for plants.

Plant conservation is massively underfunded, and not enough people are becoming botanists. It’s ironic and quite upsetting that society’s love, and in some cases obsession, with plants for their homes is not only leading to certain species becoming extinct in the wild, but also adding to a growing list of environmental concerns. My goal, as a plant shop owner here in Baltimore, is to help transform this fascination and love that we all have for plants, into support for their conservation in the wild, and for better environmental practices within the horticultural trade.

In 2009 I graduated from Earlham College with a degree in Psychology, and in 2013 I finished grad school at JHU with a degree in environmental science. I was eager to start my career and make a real difference. I couldn’t stop thinking about how if we, as humans, felt more connected to the non-human world it could lead to more people feeling passionate about the environment. One day, I was looking at my houseplants and had a realization. If people felt truly in awe of nature - not just during hikes or on vacation - but every day, inside their homes, as they tended to their plants - this fascination could really motivate people to be better stewards of the environment. To pick up trash. To volunteer. To make more sustainable choices in general. Four years later, in 2017, I opened B.Willow, one of the first boutique plant shops in present day Baltimore, and began my quest of bringing more nature into people’s indoor spaces.

Though more people were getting into houseplants before Covid, being forced to stay inside motivated virtually everyone to bring plants into their homes, and those of us who tend to plants know the profoundly positive effect it has on our psyches. When we engage our senses with nature, like watching birds fly overhead, feeling the wind, hearing the sound of rain, we experience what psychologists term “soft fascination.” Though these sensations command our focus and attention, they do so in an effortless manner. As compared to feeling exhausted sitting behind our computer screens or scrolling through our phones, engaging with plants or going on a hike actually restores us mentally. Research has correlated such experiences with reduced stress hormones, better focus, reduced depression, even an increase in cancer fighting white blood cells. Research has also linked a type of bacteria in soil, Mycobacterium vaccae, with elevating serotonin levels. Getting our hands in the dirt is physically changing our brain chemistry, and I think that’s pretty amazing. 

We know how important engaging with nature is for us, mentally and physically, but what about the health of nature? Unfortunately, I’ve come to realize that I’m part of a large–scale agricultural trade that’s actively hurting the planet. Excessive waste and transport, chemical runoff, heavy use of limited natural resources like peat moss, plant poaching…The more I learn about its environmental impacts, the more upset I become and the more vocal I want to be. I know this industry can do better, but more people need to know how, and why, in order to put pressure on it to do so. 

When plants arrive to us from Florida, they are extremely shiny. For too long, I assumed that this was because they came from perfectly humid greenhouses and enjoyed expert care. After doing some research, we realized this was the result of synthetic “leaf shine” products used regularly within the houseplant trade, to make plants seem perfect. These products contain hazardous chemicals, and exposure to them can cause respiratory, skin and eye irritation, genetic defects, even infertility and damage to fetuses. Mostly all of these products recommend that they get disposed of carefully, because if they go into waterways they can damage aquatic life. These products are also used because they’re so toxic that they’ll kill any insects that might be on the plant, which brings me to pest management.  

Have you ever noticed a chalky residue on houseplant leaves when you first buy them? For a while I assumed it was just mineral build up from hard water used at the greenhouses. It’s actually synthetic pesticides, which are sprayed onto plants multiple times throughout their growth. I emailed my plant broker to find out exactly what was being sprayed our plants. He said “All of our plants are definitely sprayed with an array of chemicals that we would never be able to list. And, we buy plants from 50 plus vendors any given week, so we’d never be able to provide such information. Most chemicals have a re-entry of 24-48 hours, which means it’s safe to enter and work with the plant material after that point.” I’d love to feel confident that it’s safe for the workers involved, that measures are put in place to prevent these chemicals from running off into local waterways, or that it’s safe to touch plants that have been sprayed, but at this moment, I am still researching an answer.  

A couple months ago, my employees informed me that they had been finding styrofoam in soil instead of perlite. As a type of microplastic, styrofoam in potting soil inevitably finds its way into our landscapes and waterways. Unaware it’s present, many might add it to their outside gardens and inadvertently pour hundreds of 1mm wide pieces of styrofoam into their yard. I reached out to my suppliers to discuss this, as well as a few plant influencers- all of whom had no idea. These moments have made it very clear that there is a lot to be made aware of within this industry.

My staff and I are much more suspicious of things nowadays. Information is not widely disseminated, or always given in a forthcoming manner. All the while, demand on the industry is higher than ever. Some people are now just getting into plants, while others are suddenly finding themselves with 100 of them.  

This demand has also resulted in a huge upswing of avid plant collectors, and those looking for “rare” plants. In 2019, my friend Dr. Jared Margulies, shared a startling piece of information with me: ⅓ of cacti face extinction, and cacti are the 5th most threatened group of living species on earth. It’s not just because of habitat loss and climate change. People are poaching them. And not just cacti- orchids, venus fly traps, succulents, tropical plants, and more. As I began to learn about this I became highly motivated to do something about it. In early 2021, Jared introduced me to the IUCN CSSG (International Union on the Conservation of Nature, Cacti and Succulent Specialist Group), led by Dr. Barbara Goettsch, one of the world’s experts on cacti. I expressed my interest in helping to use my voice to promote awareness of plant poaching, and to help fundraise for plant conservation work. A few months later, we entered into a formal partnership together, and a new guiding thought process began to steer my work: the sale of indoor plants should help conserve plants in the wild. 

If a plant is popular or “rare” among houseplant collectors, its perceived value can be quite high, meaning any existing out in the wild (even in botanical gardens) are at risk. Social media is a huge driver of these trends- people seeing a new and exciting plant that they don’t have and instantly want. Diehard collectors will pay top dollar for small cuttings of “rare” plants, using online marketplaces to buy them from independent sellers. Guaranteeing ethical sourcing can get really watered down when you’re operating online, not interacting face to face with the seller. This problem is complicated- and again, not enough people are becoming botanists, meaning there’s not enough assessments being done to properly evaluate populations of plants in the wild. It’s hard to evaluate and hard to oversee…unless, however, poached plants get seized at customs, or a good samaritan reports someone.

In 2020, Italian authorities recovered $1.2 million worth of stolen Copiapoa cacti, native to Chile, from a cacti trafficker. Generally, seized plants are rehabbed in botanical gardens, but in this case, there were 1000 cacti, native to a few square miles in Chile. Because of their specialized needs and large number, it was decided to send them back. But, something like this had not happened before. It took about a year for Dr. Goettsch and others to navigate international bureaucracy to figure out how to do so. Sadly, neither Chile nor Italy would agree to pay the $3600 shipping costs. Dr. Goettsch was able to secure about $2600 from the IUCN. In April of 2021, I got an email from her with the subject “Opportunity to use B.Willow’s Donation.” She explained how they’d finally started packing the plants, but there were more boxes than estimated, increasing the cost of freight. She asked if they could use $1000 that I had recently donated to cover the rest. I can’t express how shocked I was that my little shop could play a role in something like this. The sale of houseplants, in a very direct and real way, was supporting the conservation of plants in the wild. This is the largest known example of stolen cacti being returned to their native land.

Since then, I’ve continued to donate $1 from every cacti I sell towards the IUCN. It makes me wonder- if every business selling plants across America (or even the world) did something similar, how big of an impact could we make? Not only financially, if every plant shop used their voice to educate people about the environmental issues facing the trade, or the realities of plant poaching, we could collectively encourage change to happen.

If you’re a plant lover, there are a few simple things you can do to help and to lessen your own impact. Propagate your plants, share them with friends. When you do buy a plant, Shop from small businesses, and avoid big box stores. Not only will the plants often be taken better care of, but you can ask questions to make sure you know how to give the plant the care it needs. Ask your plant sellers where they source their plants, especially if you’re shopping online. If you’re interested in “rare,” expensive plants, know that over time they will be more widely cultivated, cheaper, and less likely to put those in the wild at risk for poaching. Avoid synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. There are lots of amazing products available these days, made by small businesses with high quality, sustainably derived ingredients, who are extremely passionate about their products.

Make time to learn about your plants, beyond just their care. Are they lab created hybrids? Are they still prevalent in the wild? Are they threatened? Fascinate yourself by researching where they’re from and how they behave in their natural environments.  Let your houseplants become symbols of their wild counterparts and the precious ecosystems that they’re part of and that need our protection.