Hello! My name is Clara Weis, and I am a junior at the University of Vermont (UVM). I was recently welcomed to Green Mountain Floral Supply Company (GMFSI) as their inaugural Sustainability and Community Impact intern. At UVM, I study community-centered design with a minor in psychology. I want to take this space to share some of my experiences and reflections interning at Vermont’s only wholesale floral company.
Understanding Sustainability at a Floral Wholesaler
To me, sustainability is an ongoing effort to support our future well-being; environmentally, socially, and economically. As I stepped into Green Mountain Floral Supply Company earlier this year, I immediately noticed an eagerness to incorporate more sustainable practices, which made this work feel exciting and meaningful.
Sustainabloom Sustainability Planning Template
During my first month at GMFSI, I was thrown right into the Valentine’s Day rush. It was a fast-paced introduction to how we process, create, and organize within the floral industry and specifically during the most important floral holiday of the year. That experience gave me a much clearer understanding of how our systems work, and where there may be opportunities to grow more sustainable. These include our transportation systems, floral operations, waste management, and building requirements.
During this semester I also had the opportunity to work with Sustainabloom, the sustainability initiative of the American Floral Endowment. They developed a planning template specifically for wholesale florists, and we were grateful to provide feedback from a wholesaler’s perspective. It was rewarding to help shape a resource in a way that makes it more accessible and practical for businesses like ours.
This guide has also been a helpful tool in understanding the different moving parts of the wholesale floral industry, and how we can begin organizing our own sustainability goals moving forward. As I continue my time at GMFSI, I plan to audit both our South Burlington and Middlesex locations with this template to better understand their specific sustainability needs.
Clara Weis
Sustainability and Community Impact intern, Green Mountain Floral SupplyWaste Management Staff Education
On National Staff Appreciation Day (March 6th), I developed a presentation (with help from my supervisor) focused on improving our waste management systems. I developed posters tailored to the types of waste we commonly see in the floral department, helping to clarify what can be recycled, composted, or thrown away.
This project required digging into local guidelines to better understand how nearby facilities process different materials. After meeting with Gabriella Stevens, Business Outreach Coordinator from the Chittenden County Solid Waste District, we felt confident that we had accurate, practical information to share.
We then presented to staff at both our South Burlington and Middlesex locations, focusing on ways to make waste management more clear and approachable. We also included a few interactive elements to make the information more engaging and easier to remember. The “Trash to Treasure” exercise was a particular hit!
More to Come
The sustainability work is not over yet! In the remaining month of my internship, I look forward to creating content related to this topic at GMFSI, sustainability planning with the AFE template, organizing a tour for GMFSI employees to the local composting facility – to further understand our contribution (floral waste) and impact in the end result of compost, and finally, incorporating sustainability into our employee handbook.
By making sustainability engaging and accessible, we can create impact at both the business level and in everyday individual choices!
