Here, jeans, armchairs, records and bicycles are given a second life. Green plants too. In this former Nantes garage transformed into a third place with a sheet metal facade, between two arms of the Loire, nestles a new type of recycling facility. At La Brocante verte, abandoned chrysanthemums, orchids and spathiphyllums are recovered, revived, put back on sale at a bargain price, avoiding waste and waste, while employing six homeless people.
The rescue of plants and people has been led, since February 2021, by two thirty-year-olds experienced in humanitarian work, Solène Mahé and Aude Couturier. This December morning, their greenhouse-like sales space is invaded by potted vegetation, from floor to ceiling. Outside, by the dozen, red-flowered guzmanias and poinsettias await (re)takers on metal shelves. In the good care of La Brocante verte, the most slouched foliage regains its shape, knows the neighborhood, which is passing along, greening its interior for cherry stems in all good ecological conscience.
“It’s nonsense to destroy thousands of plants. Here, we fulfill our duty as consumers to be a little less stupid”, says Carine Hily, with a determined look under her short bangs. A local customer, she also appreciates the advice provided: “Almost a year since I stopped killing plants! » In 2023, the integration association saved 53 tonnes of completely living plants from the trash. “In what we recovered, we only had 3 tonnes of waste. Which means that these plants were still in good condition”, REMARK Solène Mahé, her head buried in a big fur-lined hood.
“A solution for unsaleables”
“The Green Flea Market is recovering in all directions”, she specifies: with individuals, whose monstera has turned into a monster or who are moving without taking the ficus with them; and with around forty professionals. Indoor or outdoor landscapers, hypermarkets and garden centers – they donate their unsold items for a tax deduction, saving themselves the cost of composting – florists, pop-up sales companies, wholesalers who order too much for the privilege of buying cheaper in the Netherlands and nurserymen.
Among the latter, the collections are enormous, according to the co-founder of plant recycling: “They are constantly throwing away to free up floor space, or because they would have to increase the size of the pot and it is not profitable. Or because the plant is no longer in flower at the right time, because the shrub has unsightly branches…” At Jardiland de Carquefou (Loire-Atlantique), adjacent to Nantes, Julie Blaiteau advises clients “increasingly demanding, who want perfect plants and no longer have the patience to let them grow”. At the back of the store, on a rolling shelf, the cyclamen, chrysanthemums and bromelias which have lost their flowers will soon be recovered by La Brocante verte. “It’s living, for usrecalls the nurseryman. We pamper them. So it’s nice to see that there is a solution for unsaleable items, that we fill the bins less. »
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