With April showers upon us and Earth Day vibes in the air, it’s time to talk flowers. Though seemingly a renewable resource, flowers can be an expensive part of any event. An arrangement’s price must account for the plants’ growth, harvest, transport, organization, arrangement and delivery to your venue. At the end of the night it seems like such a shame to toss those dollars and hard work away. Well friends, there is a solution!
Florists and nonprofit organizations across the country are able to accept used arrangements to repurpose the blooms for another event or a charitable cause. Here are some inspiring and useful resources for your reference.
GIVE
The following organizations repurpose arrangements and gift these flowers to local hospitals, hospice centers, homeless shelters, rehab centers, special care facilities, churches and schools to allow others to continue enjoying the beauty of the flowers. These teams value the health of the planet and their communities.
- TableArt, Green Heart, Wayne, PA
- The Flower Shuttle, Raleigh, North Carolina
- Random Acts of Flowers, Chicago, IL, Knoxville, TN, Pinellas Co., FL and Silicon Valley, CA.
- Floral Angels, London, UK
- Flower Angels USA, West Dennis, MA
- Vermont recycles Flowers, Chappell’s Florist (South Burlington, VT)
- Petal Share, Washington DC
- Petals with a Purpose, Chapel Hill, NC
- Petals with Purpose, West Palm Beach, FL
- Petals with Purpose TX, Fort Worth, TX
- Floranthropy, Houston, TX
- Floranthrophy Seattle, Seattle, WA
- Rebloom Flowers, Cincinnati, OH
- Power of Flowers Project, Billerica, MA
- Petals for Patients, Mequon, WI
- Floranthropie, Quebec, Canada
- The Bloom Project, Central, OR; Portland OR; Sacramento, CA
Many of these organizations, such as Blooms from the Heart, located in the San Diego area, welcome corporate groups of volunteers, which helps involve different members of the community and serves as a team building exercise.
If your blooms are a bit worse for the wear, there are other items you can donate such as the vases and vessels. Asland Addison Florist Co., serving the Chicago area, accepts donated baskets and vases in return for a green plant and a $3 donation per 5 vases to a local church, school or charity. If your flowers are past the point of donation, Recycle Scene offers ideas such as DIY potpourri. There are numerous opportunities to donate dollars, flowers, vases or your time.
RECEIVE
Interested in purchasing reused flowers for your event? That’s an option too. These organizations pickup used arrangements, notify their contacts and post to their websites and have the new arrangements ready the next day. Not only do they offer great flowers at a discounted price, a portion of the proceeds are given to charity.
- Project Flora, New York City, NY
- Rebloom, Boston, MA & New York City, NY
Have other fun or sustainable ideas for repurposing event flowers? Let us know.
