Founded in 2014, ReBLOOM repurposes and composts event florals and greenery that would otherwise end up being thrown out. ReBLOOM converts event florals into bouquets of joy by donating them to a charity of choice, in a company or person’s name; they then re-collect the bouquets to compost them properly in order to reduce environmental waste.
To date, ReBLOOM has diverted 43 tons of floral waste from landfills, and delivered more than 30,000 floral arrangements to charities across Canada. ReBLOOM also hosts ‘Make One. Give One.’ arrangement-making workshops for team building initiatives and private events.
We recently spoke with founder Kalynn Crump about how she came up with the idea, the impact their bouquets have had so far and the lessons she’s learned along the way.
Tell us a bit about your background and how that may have inspired the launch of ReBLOOM?
The inspiration behind ReBLOOM was about how we are negatively impacting the environment on a daily basis, and wanting to be part of the global mission to reduce waste. I realized I could help make the event & wedding industry more sustainable.
Starting ReBLOOM in 2014 – to repurpose and properly compost event florals and greenery that would otherwise end up in landfills – was the first step.
How does it work exactly? How can people make this work for them or charities?
Our process is simple and can be broken down into three easy steps.
Step one: Pick up event flowers. Immediately after your event the ReBLOOM team picks up event flower arrangements that would otherwise end up in the garbage. The flowers are redesigned into smaller, beautiful bedside table arrangements.
Step two: Flowers are donated to charities. ReBLOOM delivers these redesigned flowers to a charity of the person’s/company’s choice – including to senior homes, patients in hospices, cancer treatment centers, mental health facilities, domestic abuse and homeless shelters. Within hours, these flowers are making a positive social impact within the community.
Step three: Compost the flowers. Once the flowers have spread their joy, but have reached the end of their life span, the ReBLOOM team recollects them and brings to a compost facility to complete the organic life cycle. Many people don’t know that flowers that end up in a landfills contribute to making toxic greenhouse gases, but at ReBLOOM we properly compost them and use them to create soil.
What has been the impact so far?
To date, ReBLOOM has diverted 43 tonnes of floral waste from landfills. ReBLOOM also works with over 1,500 charitable partners and non-for-profit organizations across the country – and to date, ReBLOOM has delivered more than 30,000 floral arrangements to charities across Canada. And we are always looking to add more to our registry.
How do you define success at ReBLOOM?
I can’t think of anything more rewarding than bringing the repurposed flowers to people in a seniors home, hospital, hospice or shelter. We get a chance to brighten up their day, even if just for a moment. The smiles coupled with the disbelief that you see on their face because someone has done something kind for them, unexpectedly, fills your soul.
What would you say are the biggest lessons learned from running a mission-driven business?
When I started out in 2014 people and corporations were so used to throwing things out in the garbage, which was essentially “free” and didn’t affect their bottom line. They talked a good game about wanting to change and be more environmentally conscious, but when I’d give them a cost associated with that goal we got a lot of “not right now” and “no thank you”.
Things have significantly changed thanks to the awareness around single-use-straight-to-landfill items, and there is increasing pressure and desire to be more eco-friendly.
What’s the long-term goal with your company?
I want ReBLOOM to continue to grow – by working with new charities and non-profits, to getting more companies using our service for their events. I also love the wedding space – there are so many couples who care about hosting a green wedding, and weddings often have a ton of florals, so I’d like to continue to focus on inspiring more couples to use ReBLOOM as well.
Overall, I want to continue spreading joy in local communities while ensuring we’re taking better care of the one planet we have.