Plastic, plastic everywhere and I can’t stand it – The Irish Times

The trend started small. Small artificial plastic flowers in waterless jars on cafe tables. Then it also included plastic potted plants, ferns, palms, ivy, trees, grass and artificial greenery in general. Christmas is just around the corner and I can guarantee you that most of the seasonal-themed holly and mistletoe you see in public places do not come from green spaces or living spaces. They were raised far from Wicklow. They come from factories in Asia, most likely China.

I cannot stand the increasing presence of plastic film in our public spaces. I mean, why bother? Is there anything more depressing than seeing lifeless plastic plants while you think about what to eat or drink? Real flowers are expensive, wildflowers take time to gather in the summer. I know that. I didn’t just fall off a (real) coconut tree, and neither did the recently unsuccessful candidate for the US presidency.

But I’d rather have a bare table than a collection of stiff plastic flowers or a plastic cactus that’s doomed to never die. The irony is that plastic flowers are the exact opposite of what they represent. Real flowers are beautiful and often fragrant, compositions of nature that live bright, fleeting lives and then die. It’s part of the fleeting beauty of flowers. Your plastic doppelgangers never die. Their existence on our cafe and restaurant tables is a constant reminder of the ubiquity of plastic in our lives. Let’s not forget that we now live in a world where microplastics have been found in the fish we eat.

( According to a study, over 70% of deep sea fish have ingested plasticOpens in new window )

The trend started on a small scale, but is now definitely on a large scale, both in terms of distribution and size. People have been going crazy lately adding artificial foliage to their stores and restaurants. Why are there so many fake floral arches over entrances, as if buyers are attending a pastoral wedding in a country church where the floral arches are actually real? Is it because we live in a humid country where bright and vibrant foliage doesn’t regularly drape itself picturesquely around door and window frames? Is there a subversive campaign to make Ireland more like the hotter regions of Europe?

I don’t know. Presumably the people who install these arches think they have a pleasing aesthetic, why else? The harsh truth is that the arches are a lot of horrible sheets of plastic that will gradually fade and get dirtier from passing traffic over the sad weeks and months. What happens to them then? Even the youngest child in your circle of acquaintances can tell you that this plastic tattoo will end up in the landfill, where it will not break down in our lifetime.

A while ago I took a vegetarian friend to Glas, a vegetarian and vegan restaurant on Chatham Street in Dublin. She was excited at the prospect of potentially eating everything on the menu, which was creative and delicious. We both enjoyed the excellent food.

However, at some point I became distracted by the amount of plastic foliage in the restaurant. There were plants and trees everywhere, even in the toilets. I was struck by the contradiction between the restaurant’s ethos, which they state on their website – “We believe in using seasonal vegetables and local produce to create sustainably sourced gourmet dishes” – and the presence of all that plastic. What is sustainable or sustainably sourced about one of the world’s biggest scourges, plastic?

I later emailed Glas and asked why they used plastic plants and leaves in their vegetarian and vegan restaurant.

Owner Paul Rooney responded: “When we opened Glas in November 2019, we wanted to incorporate plants into the design of the restaurant. We spent €3,500 on plants. They died. I thought I was doing something wrong and not taking proper care of her, so I did further research. We bought more, spent more money, and followed the care instructions closely. They died too. There is simply not enough light in the room for the plants to survive.

“We now use plastic plants because their color and appearance are visually appealing and contribute to the overall look of the restaurant. They create a nice atmosphere/ambience, whatever you want to call it. Most people like the look. Where possible we use fresh flowers which we buy from Grafton Street every week, but they fade quickly due to the room temperature.

“If I had a different restaurant that served different dishes and had a different clientele, I might not use plants at all. But for glass, the general feedback is that it works.”

The question of aesthetics is a personal one. Taste is subjective. One person’s perspective on what constitutes a “nice atmosphere/atmosphere” is not the same as another person’s. Neither my friend nor I liked the look of Glass’s plastic foliage. We hated it.

It was interesting to read in Glas’s response to my questions that the real plants they had installed were unable to thrive. But why, I asked myself, was the decision made to replace them with plastic models? What’s wrong with having no plants at all if real plants keep dying in a particular location, whether from lack of light or other reasons? Is it because we as consumers have become so used to being visually overstimulated that restaurant owners think we need to have something to look at all the time?

The space that Floritz now occupies on St Stephen’s Green is one that I have particularly fond memories of: I once spent an entire afternoon of festivities in the former dining room of the Cliff Townhouse. There was a career highlight to celebrate, and me and my friend went there all afternoon with champagne and eating oysters and seafood pasta while notifications vibrated on both of our phones. We refer to it as our “Day of Days.”

( The scourge of plastic production is now part of a gigantic and unstoppable experimentOpens in new window )

When the space reopened under new management in recent months, the dining room was renamed Floritz. I joined the friend with whom I had celebrated Day of Days at this location a few years earlier. The food – baos, sushi, yakitori – was excellent. The eye-catching strips of wallpaper on the walls attract attention, along with clever lighting and lots of mirrors. There was also a depressing amount of plastic foliage, mostly of the artificial tropical variety.

Why? I asked my friend, once again distracted by the food as I looked around and felt like I was being suffocated by even more of the world’s unnecessary plastic. The room already made a sufficient impression through its furnishings. It’s not an understatement. So why add all this plastic that is fake foliage?

It made me a little sad and a little angry and also a little depressed, which is not the mood you want when you’re out with a good friend having a great evening together.

I emailed Floritz and asked why the restaurant used plastic sheets.

A spokesman replied:

“The plants used as part of the decoration at Floritz are just another tool in the designer’s bag of tricks to enrich the overall experience of the restaurant experience. The designers created a deliberately dramatic and theatrical world as a backdrop for the restaurant’s bold and exotic dishes.

“The planting serves as a decorative element, just as the designers used the patterned wallpaper and multiple mirrors – to create atmosphere and a sense of drama.”

( Floritz review: A dazzling but confusing new restaurant with an underwhelming menuOpens in new window )

So in this restaurant the plastic is a conscious design decision.

The restaurant industry in particular seems to be affected by design trends – for a while, industrial-style bare light bulbs and simple wooden tables were ubiquitous. Now it’s artificial foliage that stealthily creeps into these interiors like a kind of 21st-century poison ivy.

The fact is that when customers visit a restaurant, they pay attention to many more things than what’s on the menu or how much everything costs. You notice things. It’s not always just about the food. I love a good atmosphere in a restaurant; That priceless mercury quality that keeps me coming back again and again. This doesn’t include being surrounded by plastic versions of nature.

As I was writing this, I found myself daydreaming and wondering if restaurants would ever advertise on their websites the fact that they use plastic botanicals, just as they list their sample menus and show a gallery of images, because then I would avoid those restaurants and I don’t spend my precious evenings feeling depressingly helpless about the state of the planet.

What restaurant owners believe that plastic flowers, plants and leaves have a positive effect on their interiors is really a mystery to me. Surely I can’t be the only customer who finds this trend so depressing and pointless?