Green waste is an inevitable byproduct of floral design. Stem trimmings, petals and blooms that don’t make it into arrangements accumulate daily as shop owners craft beautiful designs for their customers. Fortunately, composting offers a practical, environmentally responsible way to manage this organic waste and reduce harmful emissions.

For many mid-sized floral shops, however, implementing a composting program can be challenging. Concerns about space, costs, time and odor often deter business owners from getting started. To address these hurdles, Sustainabloom’s Industry Guide on Composting offers a clear, research-backed framework tailored to the needs of the floral industry. Developed by leading experts, the guide explains composting methods, compares on-site and off-site options and shares strategies to launch and improve sustainable waste management programs.

With guidance from the industry guide and additional tools available on Sustainabloom’s website, floral shops now have a more accessible path to establishing composting practices suited to their operations.

Lack of space remains a top concern for many business owners. Betsy Gardner, owner of The Plant Shoppe Florist in Gainesville, FL, began composting in 2002 using a green space behind her shop. When she later moved to a new location in a shopping area, she lost that space—and had to find a new solution.

Rather than paying for municipal waste removal, Gardner looked for others who could benefit from her organic waste. Though some were hesitant without knowing exactly what the compost contained, Gardner ultimately began taking the materials home. “We don’t use it on vegetable or fruit crops, but we now have it for use in our landscaping,” she said. With an acre of land at her home, she added that odor has never been a problem.

In Wichita, KS, Vanessa O’Brien, owner of Bloom Wichita, has maintained a composting program since opening her shop in 2020. Partnering with a local composting company, her team collects stems and plant material in designated bins at each design table, transferring the contents daily to lidded trash cans in a garage area. These are collected weekly. Over five years, the program has diverted 10 tons of organic waste, resulting in 6,500 pounds of finished compost for landscaping and other projects.

O’Brien pays about $80 per month for the service—a cost she considers worthwhile. “Shop owners that are composting their green waste can see savings through the need for smaller trash dumpsters because there is so little to throw away,” she noted. She added that supporting a local composting company is another benefit.

For those handling their own composting, Gardner emphasized that floral shops can even generate revenue from the compost they produce. Options include selling it to local garden centers or incorporating it into plant-your-own-garden kits. Her sustainability efforts extend beyond composting—recycling plastic and cardboard flower wrappings, donating rubber bands to local Girl Scout troops, and returning shipping boxes to suppliers. Even bubble wrap gets reused by a nearby ceramics shop.

“We collect green matter—including stems, flowers, even apple cores and banana peels from lunch—daily in a bin here at the shop. Then I can easily take that bin to my house and add it to the compost pile,” said Gardner. Some of that compost has even been donated to schools and youth groups for landscaping projects.

O’Brien shares a similar mindset. Her shop recycles glass, reuses flower bed water and sources locally whenever possible. “What I have found is that everyone wants to do something good for the environment. Everyone is open to it,” she said. “With just a couple of extra trash cans, composting is a way to do that, and it’s not difficult.”

Whether operating a small studio or a larger floral business, composting doesn’t need to be complicated or costly. The Sustainabloom Industry Guide on Composting provides step-by-step support, return-on-investment insights and resources to help businesses implement systems that align with their goals and space constraints—making it easier than ever to manage green waste sustainably.