Two New Jersey companies have partnered with Walmart stores in the Northeast to put non-recyclable or hard-to-recycle margarine tubs to a new "green" use -- as flower pots.
The companies working with the retailer are Garden State Growers, which grows many types of plants on its 500-acre site, and TerraCycle, which collects waste that is non-recyclable or difficult to recycle and puts it to new use.
Everything’s coming up garbage.This April, garden center shoppers in select Walmart stores will see something other than the traditional black pots in which flowers are traditionally sold. Garden State Growers and TerraCycle will offer annuals in upcycled margarine tubs in Walmart stores throughout the Northeast—including stores in New Milford and Torrington.
The upcycled pots are a more eco-friendly option as they eliminate the need to use virgin plastic and can be returned to TerraCycle to be used again. The plants will retail for approximately $5 each and be shipped April 17 to stores in New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont.
In addition to new mums, poinsettias and hard goods products, the event – dubbed Plants On Parade – gave Clearwater the opportunity to talk about a few of its unique initiatives, including an interactive sustainability initiative that involves kids collecting reusable plastic food tubs in which plants are grown.
“We’ve grown our mums in these I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter tubs,” Medeiros says. “Kids will collect them after the flowers have played their role, and they’ll return them to their school or an area that’s been designated by the store for two cents each.
“TerraCycle has agreed with us on an exclusive agreement and for any store that participates, we will implement a marketing/PR program that enables us to go into a geographic area around the grocery store and direct market to that elementary school.”
