Sure, everyone wants to extend the vase life of flowers, but who cares about extending the vase life of the poor, empty vase? The folks at Ashland Addison Florist in Chicago can hardly contain themselves over a new program designed to increase the life expectancy of your average vase, wicker basket, mug and assorted container. And by doing so, they hope to tack on a few years to the health of the planet, kick more money to charities and drive more customers through their doors. 

In June, the six-location Chicagoland shop kicked off its first reuse/recycle container campaign that combines clutter reduction, waste management, oxygen replenishing and philanthropy in one of those utterly practical "Why didn't we think of us this before?" efforts. 

The idea is simple: Customers can bring in as many glass, wicker and ceramic containers as they can haul, regardless of origin, through August. For every five reusable containers, customers score a free plant and get a $3 donation made on their behalf to one of three local charities. If after valiant efforts to de-sticky, de-goo or basically kill whatever life form has taken residence in a decades-old happy face mug prove hopeless, the staff will recycle the containers, give them away or properly dispose of them if they're beyond the recyclable bin.

"We were tossing around ideas to ramp up our green efforts, and our owner, Bill Sheffield, starting talking about bringing back in all those vases out there, abandoned under kitchen sinks, collecting dust," Bridget Carlson, the shop's marketing director, says of the re-harvest. "And instantly, it clicked."

The initiative is advertised on the shop's on-hold recording, the Web site's home page and all packaging. But customers haven't needed much prodding to exorcise their homes of vase graveyards — in the campaign's first two weeks, 300 containers have been called home to Ashland Addison. Although some of them, Carlson admits, would be more at home in a grocery aisle than a florist shop.

"Unless there was a florist's campaign involving Aunt Jemina that I missed, I don't think this syrup bottle was ever used to hold flowers," she says about one of the more interesting finds, among beer bottles and Merlin Olsen-era mugs, in the first week.

The staff is still sorting out which containers can be reused, so a tally of donations and green plant giveaways wasn't available at press time. The shop hasn't ruled out extending the program beyond the summer.

The campaign is a rare traffic-increasing effort that's good for the environment, as it's driving more customers through the shops. "Although it's too early to really determine how this is going to affect our foot traffic, we know that so many of us are trying to find a way to be a little greener," Sheffield says.  "Hopefully, Chicagoland will find this an easy way to jump in."
 
One thing the campaign deliberately hopes not to recycle is the familiar complaint heard from customers who don't want to fork over cash for another vase they don't have room for. "It's turning a complaint into a positive — for customers' cabinets, the community and the environment."

Need to fill up whatever repository in which you store your shop's green efforts? Don't miss the all industry session at SAF Palm Beach 2008, "Sustainability: Issues and Opportunities for the Floral Industry."

 
--Amanda Long
along@safnow.org

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