Waste Hater is a monthly series where we interview friends in the industry doing interesting and awesome work to reduce all kinds of waste, food or otherwise. This February, in honor of Valentine’s Day, we spoke with Quilen Blackwell, President and Founder of Southside Blooms in Chicago.

Right now, in the middle of Southside Chicago, a group of young people are arranging flowers. Bouquets, boutonnieres, centerpieces, anything can be created from the array of stems they’ve harvested and designed all through sustainable practices.

On abandoned lots in one of the most divested sections of the city, Quilen Blackwell established Southside Blooms, a business endeavor meant to engage youth of all ages in environmental justice practices with economic viability. The organization aims to alleviate inner city poverty by empowering the community from within, inspiring young people  with the jewels of Mother Nature.

“We explored a lot of different ways to go about this,” Blackwell tells Replate. “We looked at food, which isn’t always profitable. We considered 3-D printing, but we settled on flowers. The floral industry is a $35 billion dollar industry, but 80% of flowers come from overseas. The flower-growing industry in the U.S. is almost nonexistent. We had an opportunity with all this vacant land on the Southside, so we decided to use it to grow flowers instead.”

He adds, “Young people are into design and art, we thought they’d get into making floral arrangements.”

Since 2014, Blackwell and his team have built this unique project from the ground up – literally. They spent a few seasons learning how to grow a variety of flowers in a place not known for sunshine and fertility. They studied plant varieties, tracked rain patterns, and investigated soil constrictions in order to create a system where they could cultivate a dream.

“We wanted to introduce environmental justice from a different perspective,” Blackwell explains.

And so it’s the kids handing the dirty work. At Southside Blooms, youth are growing tulips, daffodils, lilies, peonies, sunflowers, and marigolds among others, and they’re doing so using solar energy, repurposed rainwater, and zero pesticides, herbicides, or synthetic fertilizers.

To get young people in one of America’s biggest cities invested in a cause like this, Blackwell employs a tried-and-true tactic.

“Frankly, show them the money!” He laughs. “Conventional agriculture relies on water and other resources that create large operating costs. We show them what it looks like when you partner with Mother Nature, and use free resources like the sun and rainwater to start a business.”

The ingenuity doesn’t end there. Blackwell’s team composts all organic material generated on site, and uses biodegradable, recyclable, or reusable packaging options wherever possible. Flowers are sourced from farms committed to renewable energy and rainwater irrigation, and grown in environments actively working to sequester carbon.

Most importantly, Southside Blooms supports these youth and young adults by contributing to job creation, giving them a greater purpose. There are 10 young people on staff, and about 300 total who are part of education and workforce development programs.

Blackwell enjoys watching their reactions when donors, volunteers or even patrons come by to get a look at their bouquets.

“They come by thinking it’s just some poor Black kids playing with flowers, then they realize these young people actually know how to make a bouquet,” he says. “But the youth know what they’re capable of – that part I definitely enjoy.”

He adds, “There’s also the real-life aspect of it. Many of these young people are coming from high trauma backgrounds. They’re gang-affiliated or are friends with gang members. They’re choosing a flower farm over the street, and it literally has saved their lives. One kid told me recently that some of friends got shot while he was at the shop. If he hadn’t been working, he would have been with them. So we’re preserving human life.”

For more information on Southside Blooms, visit their site.

And learn more about Replate here.