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Garbage Goddess - An Eco-Clean Up in New York That Supports the Earth

Founder Liza Lubell shares how we must change our relationship to that which brings us joy, lest we extinguish the sources of our wonder forever.

By: THURSD. | 17-01-2024 | 5 min read
Sustainability
Garbage Goddess trash breakdowns

Garbage Goddess is a solution to the trash left behind by traditional event breakdowns. Thoughtfully and intentionally created by Liza Lubell to create more awareness and consciousness in people, at Garbage Goddess Liza makes sure to donate used decor and compost organic waste, diverting trash from landfills. Curious to know more about this interesting initiative and company? Stay here and keep reading.

Garbage Goddess - Supporting the Earth Through Conscious Initiatives

To make it rather simple, Garbage Goddess is an eco-cleanup service for events of all sizes. The business, led and run by CEO Liza Lubell, offers a full breakdown service for florists, planners, venues, and hosts. At the end of each event, GG makes sure to compost all organic matter, reuse and recycle all relevant materials, and return supplies to their partner vendors. Additionally, what makes them extra special is the fact they add a thoughtful layer to the chaos that is the post-event hustle.

 

Liza Lubell owner and creator of Garbage Goddess
Meet Liza Lubell, the owner and creator of Garbage Goddess

 

In the spirit of reusing, the team behind the successful business also offers a free flower pick-up for artists who use floral material in their work. Currently serving in New York City, The Hamptons, the Hudson Valley, and Los Angeles, there is a huge mission and vision behind Garbage Goddess and it's important to know why they do what they do, how they do it, and the entire process behind composting the flowers they use during any type of event. Liza understands that seeking and providing pleasure through flowers comes with serious responsibility.

Liza's message:

"We must change our relationship to that which brings us joy, lest we extinguish the sources of our wonder forever."

 

Flower compost services by Garbage Goddess after events
Flower compost services offered by Garbage Goddess after any type of event

 

The Mission Behind Garbage Goddess

The mission is clear: facilitate deeper reverence for our planet one event at a time. Liza has it very explicit and lucid in her mind. She wants Garbage Goddess to become the port of support for the earth through clean and conscious practices that will indeed help save the earth one flower at a time.

 

Full team behind Garbage Goddess eco clean up
Full team behind the talented scaleup business and eco clean-up, Garbage Goddess

 

Liza notes:

"We created Garbage Goddess as a way to revolutionize the notoriously wasteful event industry. By creating sustainable options and leading by example, we hope that other party-makers and party-goers will be inspired to do the same."

 

Team member from GG taking down flowers to compost afterwards
A team member from GG taking down flowers to compost after an event

 

The Garbage Goddess team is made up of freelance professionals such as artists, musicians, and teachers who care about their work and each other. Each team member works tirelessly to dismantle events, load trucks, return hard goods to clients, and divert event waste from landfills to our donation partners and composting facilities, often in the middle of the night. The community at GG extends beyond the composting center.

 

Diverting close to a ton of organic material from a landfill
Diverting close to a ton of organic material from a landfill

 

What they don't compost, they donate, and over the years, they've formed relationships with donation organizations such as Material for the Arts and schools, where event decor becomes fodder for artists, students, and teachers. Some of the flowers used at events are donated to local dye artists, such as GG's friends Erin and Kesiena, who extract the dyes for textile handicrafts and art, giving flowers a new life.

 

Compost runs by Garbage Goddess

 

The 'Why'

Why do Liza and her team do this series of spectacular work and why do they offer these services to the industry? Events create waste. Much of that waste can be reused, composted, or recycled, but at the end of the night, with little time and less energy to dispose of things thoughtfully or properly, most event teams just throw everything away. The result is garbage bags piled high with unnecessary trash headed to already overflowing landfills.

 

GG team members looking for flowers to re use or recycle and compost

 

When it comes to flowers, this careless waste is especially counterintuitive. Flowers thrown away in landfills emit harmful greenhouse gases that change our global climate, making new flowers (among other things) challenging to grow. By composting flowers and greenery, GG helps create organic topsoil and mulch from which new things will grow. At Garbage Goddess, the team is a big fan of circles! As the company continues to grow, its goal is to facilitate 100% zero-waste events so everyone can party responsibly.

 

Breaking down Emily Thompsons flowers at an event
Breaking down Emily Thompson's incredible quince install for the Jason Wu fashion show where all branches and flowers got composted saving over a quarter ton of organic material from the landfill

 

More About the Founder - Liza Lubell

Garbage Goddess was founded by florist Liza Lubell (New York's Peatree Flowers) back in 2019. Liza has spent over fifteen years producing and dismantling events. Disillusioned by the amount of waste that her industry created, she realized she could no longer work with florals unless she meaningfully shifted the industry towards earth-supportive practices. During one particularly large-scale event, Liza and her team diverted a heroic amount of organic material (over three tons) from the landfill to the composting center. The seed for Garbage Goddess was planted, and Peartree Flowers hasn’t worked any other way since. By creating a separate breakdown service for the larger event community, Liza has demonstrated that Garbage Goddess is not a niche concept, but a thriving and scalable business that is essential and urgent.

 

Liza Lubell from Garbage Goddess eco clean up service

 

It's a curious and insightful concept at the same time and many are new to the world of composting and helping the earth one stem, flower, or event at a time. To know more details about the process behind it, take a peek at Garbage Goddess' website.

 

Photos by garbage.goddess.

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