Eco-palms

Many churches have taken on selling certified coffee and other products in order to benefit the farmers and encourage sustainable farm practices. Now this is extended to the production of palms for Palm Sunday. I was a little surprised to see an article in the New York Times yesterday about eco-palms. In Southern Mexico and Northern Guatemala palm branches are harvested selectively so that there is less waste and lower impact on the forest. The harvesters receive twice as much pay for their work and the branches are sold for a higher price in the U.S. Our church spent about $40 to buy our palm branches but some American mega-churches spend up to $1500.

The percentage of palms that must be discarded has plummeted from roughly half to a tenth. And the forest that Mr. Corzo uses to make a living is slowly becoming greener, environmentalists say. The program began in 2005 with 20 American churches that bought about 5,000 palms. It grew last year, with 281 congregations placing orders for 80,000 palms. On this Palm Sunday, 1,436 churches will distribute 364,000 eco-palm stems.

This may not make a huge difference in the overall scheme of greening the planet, but it is a reminder that we can integrate the activities of our faith community with care for the earth. I have never really considered where the palm branches we use come from until this article.

Most present-day parades produce a lot of garbage which goes to the landfill. The first Palm Sunday parade used recyclable and retrievable products. You know those cloaks were picked up after Jesus passed by, and the branches would have biodegraded. And the donkey waste? Fertilizer!

Eco-palms address justice for the poor and care for the earth. I think Jesus approves.