The transportation of tulips uses a lot of energy. This is to ensure that the flowers maintain their shape and structure during transport and to increase their longevity when they reach supermarkets. Refrigerated reefer shipping containers are used to transport shelving units in a cold environment to stop the tulip from wilting. These units are loaded onto boats which travel to Waterford, which are then delivered to wholesalers and stores across Ireland. The flowers are kept in store until they begin to wilt which can be anywhere from 3 to 7 days depending on the environment they are stored. This means that if a bunch of tulips is purchased from Eurospar in Leitrim on the day the tulips were delivered, that bunch can then live for 6 days. The amount of time, energy and water that goes into growing and shipping tulips is in stark contrast to the amount of time that they are enjoyed for.