SAF is the Society of American Florists and this week they published an article quoting yours truly!

Florist to Brides: Don’t Toss the Bouquet, Recycle It

Brides and their bouquets — it’s a bond so fierce only a florist can truly appreciate its strength. (Especially if you witnessed a ceremonial breakdown over a bouquet boo-boo). Now, one florist is making it so brides never really have to let go of the big-day bouquet. Walter Knoll Florist, through its FloralNotes.com division, is recycling wedding flowers into thank you notes and seeds for a perennial garden.  The symbolism is almost too good to be true, the bride can literally plant the seeds of an annual reminder of her big day when she sends her flowers to a FloralNotes’ paper mill.

“We’re going greener and greener here and this helps pull all brides along with us,” says Di Anderson of Walter Knoll. The stems-to-stationery manufacturing process uses 100 percent post-consumer waste and no VOCs, or volatile organic compounds that are often given off in chemical processing.

Don’t go kicking yourself for not thinking of this green and gushy idea. Florists can participate by acting as partner dealers with FloralNotes.com, advertising the service to their bridal customers with in-store signage. The customers send their bouquets to FloralNotes.com, where they’re turned into paper. The paper is embedded with seeds. FloralNotes.com sends the goods to the customer. So far, eight florists, including St. Louis-based Walter Knoll, are letting brides keep their grip on the bouquet a little while longer.

–Amanda Long
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