I first saw the work of Sharon Mintz of Organic Elements at an event hosted by The Knot and I was totally impressed. Her use of flowers and fruit was so creative, I knew I wanted to learn more. Sharon was kind enough to have me over to her new studio in Kearny Mesa.
What is admirable about this Los Angeles native with a psychology background is that she was "green" and "eco-friendly" before they were buzz words and before it was cool to be thinking of the environment.
The Ten Tree Exchange, is one of Organic Elements' programs where with a minimum spend of $2,000, a tree will be planted in your name for every $500 spent. That means if eligible for this program, a minimum of four trees will be planted in the Magdalena Watershed area of El Salvador at no additional cost to you!!!
Another program at Organic Elements is the DRI (Design Reducing Irrigation) line that provides the consumer the opportunity to select designs that use little or no water to produce.
Even if you do not specifically select designs from the "DRI" line, Sharon and her team are always on the hunt to do things with less water. One example is to get away from the submerged arrangements which Sharon says is beautiful, but uses too much water. The arrangement below is a great example of using the tall vases, but not with a ton of water. By using ribbon hanging down the middle, it cuts the space without the use of water. The very cool corset-like weave around the vase really draws the eyes to look at the complete design and not just the florals.
This bridal succulent bowl bouquet is created inside a succulent so rather than holding the floral stems, you hold the stem of the succulent and you can later plant the stem in order to grow the plant that you carried on your wedding day! How cool is that?
If Sharon's clients like a particular design that uses a lot of water, she would suggest an alternative, but still beautiful design that uses less water. Organic Elements has no doubt been able to blend the two ideas effortlessly.
I think that we'll all need to change our lifestyles to help in the conservation effort. California and specifically San Diego is looking at possible water rationing starting as early as January 2009. For tips on reducing water use, please click here.
