Flowers Get Second Life: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and Rebloom
A Boston-based company repurposes event flowers.
Kimberly Tindell’s wedding reception hadn’t been over for 30 minutes, but her white hydrangea centerpieces were already gone. They had been plucked from the tables they decorated at the Liberty Hotel and packed into a giant styrofoam cooler.
“There were 13 to 15 of them, and they were gone within minutes,’’ she said.
The next day, the hydrangea arrangements decorated houses and office spaces around Boston thanks to Rebloom, a Boston-based company that saves expensive flower arrangements from being doomed to the trashcan, and resells them for 70 to 90 percent off their original price. A portion of the proceeds is then donated to charity.
In addition to weddings, Rebloom salvages flowers from charity galas and directly from florists. Donors, like Tindell, contact Rebloom by filling out a form on the company’s website before their event. A company representative will then contact them to find out more about the types of flowers available and what time the event finishes.
In addition to subscribing to an email list, flower buyers can get alerts about available arrangements through the company’s new app, which launched on Earth Day. Users will not only receive push notifications alerting them that flowers are available, they’ll also have the chance to rate delivery drivers.
Rebloom operates in Boston and New York. Founder and Harvard Business School graduate Jennifer Soffen said many of their customers are repeat buyers, ranging from wealthy Back Bay residents to law firms and investment banks.
“At offices where people work long hours, it’s nice to have flower arrangements around,’’ she said. “But now, instead of buying them for $300 or $400, they can get them for $60.’’
A flower arrangement from Kimberly Tindell’s wedding.
Soffen said most flowers donated to Rebloom Boston come from charity events. The service launched in Boston in October, at the tailend of the 2014 wedding season.
“Boston is very socially conscious, and people have been driven not only by the charity events, but the charity element of donating proceeds,’’ she said.
Rebloom lets donors choose any charity they’d like when selecting where the proceeds go. So far, there isn’t a clear winner for the most-often used charity, but Soffen said it’s usually one the person feels connected to.
“Very rarely do we get people being like ‘Do you have a charity you can recommend?’’’ she said. “If someone in the family had cancer, we’ll see them donating there, or to schools, or even summer camps.’’
After the September wedding, Tindell’s flowers brightened homes and offices around Boston, but the best part for her was the charity element. Tindell and her husband are self-described “big animal people,’’ so they chose to donate the proceeds from their sales to the Massachusetts Animal Coalition.
“In lieu of favors from the wedding, we asked for donations to the Gifford Cat Shelter, and the Merwin Animal Clinic,’’ she said. “It was nice to have these proceeds go toward the rights of animals, and somewhere we felt the impact would be recognized immediately.’’
Since her wedding, Tindell says she’s been telling all of her soon-to-be-married friends about Rebloom.
“There’s no reason not to do it,’’ she said. “Especially if they’re going to get tossed.’’
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