[Bill]

It’s Time to Order Ecopalms for Palm Sunday! During the small group conversation about Social Justice and Environment at the Presbytery meeting in February, the group thought adding information like this to the eNews from time to time might be helpful. What do you think? Send a note to statedclerk+enews@pbty.com with your thoughts. From the Eco-Palms website at http://www.EcoPalms.org: By choosing Ecopalms for Palm Sunday you can promote environmental and social justice through your congregations palm purchasing decisions! Promote Social Justice Harvesting palms is an important source of income but gatherers receive a low price Gatherers will receive a higher price for their “fair trade” palms improving their income. Promote Environmental Stewardship Palms protect valuable natural forests because they provide income to forest communities. Palms will be “sustainably” harvested and managed protecting the palms and the forests they need for shade. Why a “Fair Trade” Palm? To improve income and living conditions for the communities gathering the palm. To protect the palms and the important forests from which they are gathered through sustainable harvest programs. Did You Know? Approximately 308 million palm fronds were consumed in the United States in 1998. Palm purchases for Palm Sunday may be worth up to 4.5 million dollars/year. A congregation of 1,100 to 1,500 members will order approximately 700 palm fronds for Palm Sunday services. Palm gathering actually protects valuable natural forests. At least half of the farmers in the Central Petenof Guatemala earn additional income from harvesting fronds and, more than a quarter of household heads support themselves exclusively by collecting fronds. Each palm plant produces 2 to 5 harvestable leaves over a 2 to 4 month period. If you have questions, please email EcoPalms at: info@ecopalms.org. They have customer service phone hours Monday through Friday from 9am to 3pm CST, so please call (651) 487-7189 if you need assistance.

• This topic was modified 5 years, 8 months ago by Bill.

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