Did you know?
As part of our journey to become more eco-friendly, the St Mary’s Flower Team has been working to make our church flowers more sustainable. It’s not been easy, but they have done such an amazing job already, we wanted to celebrate their creativity!
Minimising the miles: Flowers in supermarkets and shops are often flown from all around the globe – how else would people be able to give roses on St Valentine’s Day, when roses are not in bloom in the UK? This means that many of the flowers available to buy – and especially at ‘budget’ prices – have a huge environmental cost in terms of their carbon footprint. Our Flower Team tries to reduce this impact by growing and using local whenever they can and it’s wonderful when local gardeners from our community offer their in-season greenery and flowers to help decorate the church. If you’re planting your garden this spring, why not sow a few extras for St Mary’s? Or wait to prune your greenery for when the Flower Team needs supplies? There are plans to set up a WhatsApp group to help share news on what’s available in our home gardens; if you’d like to join this group, please contact the Parish Office.
Phasing out single-use plastic: Traditional green floral foam blocks – often referred to by the famous brand name ‘Oasis’ – are made of plastic foam. New, plastic-free versions are being developed, but there is still uncertainty about how well they will actually biodegrade. The Flower Team has tried various alternatives with limited success in the past but change is in the air: our lovely Easter display this year was 100% floral foam free, relying instead on stacked vases, chicken-wire, twine and reusable ‘flower frogs’!
Reuse, repot, recycle: Instead of only using cut flowers this Easter, did you notice the beautiful pots of living flowers? These are on loan, will last several weeks and can then go back to their home to be enjoyed in the garden or grown on for next year. The team would love to do more with living plants throughout the year – if you’d like to help with growing and tending pots for seasonal displays, they’d love to hear from you.
If you are interested in helping the Flower Team with donations of flowers and plants, hands-on arranging, or making tea and wielding a vacuum cleaner (all essential team activities), please speak to Stephanie at church or email the Parish Office and your message will be passed on. Thank you! Parishoffice@ash-vale.org.uk
