Palm Sunday is going "green."

This year, more than 2,130 congregations across the USA, including Catholics, Episcopalians, Lutherans, Methodists and Presbyterians, will use "eco-palms" that are harvested in a more environmentally friendly way, says Dean Current, program director at the Center for Integrated Natural Resources and Agricultural Management at the University of Minnesota.

The number of churches using eco-palms on Palm Sunday — which, in the Christian faith, marks Jesus' triumphant return to Jerusalem before his death and resurrection — has grown from a pilot program of 5,000 in 2005 to the 600,000 eco-palms ordered for this year's March 16 celebration, Current says. He estimates that is about 1.5% of the 35 million to 40 million palms sold annually for Palm Sunday services in the USA but says he expects the growth to continue.

What makes the eco-palms different is the way that they are harvested, says RaeLynn Jones Loss, a research specialist at the University of Minnesota.

More than 50% of the palms are wasted by traditional methods, Jones Loss says. Harvesters in the eco-palm program are trained to be more selective. They cut only the best fronds, which results in only 5% to 10% waste.

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Filed under: * Christian Life / Church Life • Liturgy, Music, Worship • Parish Ministry • * Economics, Politics • Energy, Natural Resources

1. Nick Knisely wrote: I discovered when I arrived in Phoenix that we use the very greenest of palms. Parishioners bring them in from their backyards - usually as a result of their regular spring cleaning. There’s a whole different feel to the Palm Sunday procession having people wave palms they bring from home. Makes it feel much more immediate somehow. March 7, 8:09 am | [comment link]

2. Adam 12 wrote: Somehow this seems like the wrong day to push ecology. March 7, 9:49 am | [comment link]

3. libraryjim wrote: I don’t have a problem with this.  At least they are not substituting origami palms made from leaflets of the MDGs.  March 7, 10:32 am | [comment link]

4. Sherri wrote: Nick, I live in south Georgia, and we pick our own palms too. Somehow it hadn’t occurred to me to wonder what the rest of the country does. :-( March 7, 9:46 pm | [comment link]

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