Recycling Celebrations

Today is America Recycles Day. This reminds me about Christmas at Country Garden and something I saw at the Philadelphia airport. As I walked down to my gate in October I noticed a colorful grouping of plants and old wooden pallets. Some of the boards on the pallets had been painted with random colors and stamped or stenciled with planes and recycle symbols. It was a cheerful presentation.

This fun display of recycled pallets, tin cans and books was all dressed up by the greenery. It reminded me that soon we’d be making good use of pallets at Country Garden, as well as helping our customers recycle during the upcoming holidays.

Several of our customers save the decorations from their wreaths from year to year, bringing the cones, shells, and other materials to us in a plastic bag so that we can reuse it on their wreaths. They appreciate that we’re willing to do this so that there is less to throw away every year at Christmas, and because our custom department wires on the decorations instead of using hot glue, this recycling is easy to do.

I think that the items that are made of recycled pallets are appealing for many reasons. The rustic look of the wood is attractive. In a world where so much is mass-produced and the same we are drawn to things that are one-of-a-kind and look made instead of manufactured. We like the idea of using something that would otherwise be thrown away and we appreciate the “small” nature of such uses. A chain store doesn’t usually have the flexibility to create a room-within-a-room display using old pallets, but a small, independent business does.

Similarly, a smaller business is better able to help their customers with their desires to recycle. At Country Garden we will re-plant customers’ containers, create a boxwood tree in the same bowl or pot for them every year, and help them decorate an old sled, milk box, or small boat for their front porch at Christmas. Our custom department gladly helps turn the “stuff” from your attic, garage or garden shed into Holiday Cheer. We love the challenge of taking unusual items and transforming them into unique and stylish Christmas decorations!

At Hyannis Country Garden our motto has long been “Big enough to serve you, small enough to know you,” but I might be tempted to add that we’re also creative and green enough to turn every day into America Recycles Day.