Eco-friendly on Palm Sunday

Is it irresponsible for Christians to abuse the environment? Is it a sin? The debate over that question has been growing in intensity for years. And, like with most nuanced religious issues, there hasn't been a clear divide between liberal and conservative Christians. Last month, the chief lobbyist for the National Association of Evangelicals drew the ire of longtime allies -- fundamentalists like James Dobson and Pat Robertson -- by taking time away from fighting abortion and gay marriage to worry about global warming.

But at the micro level of how to represent Jesus Christ's triumphal return for being tempted by the devil in the desert, more American churches are opting for "green" palm fronds cut from Latin American forests, according to Sunday's New York Times:

Slightly more expensive than the average palm, eco-palms are the rage in churches across the United States because of the social and environmental benefits they represent. They are collected in a way that helps preserve the forest, and more of the sale price ends up in the pockets of the people who cut them.

"We want to be a green congregation," said the Rev. David C. Parsons, pastor of St. John-St. Matthew-Emanuel Lutheran Church in Brooklyn, which purchased eco-palms for the second straight year. "We are conscious of our footprint on the earth. There is a biblical mandate to do that."

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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.

That still represents just about 1 percent of the palms that are purchased for Palm Sunday, the day when the most palms are used; American churches use 25 million to 35 million palms, say officials involved in the project.