Sustainable Church Flower Show in Cirencester Parish Church, July 2025
In June 2025, our Deanery Eco Church representative, Rosemary, led the Deanery Synod meeting focused on Eco Church, encouraging representatives to discuss opportunities and obstacles.
We had a demonstration from Beth Bruce Gardner, an ambassador for the Sustainable Church Flowers movement which started in Harpley, Worcestershire in 2019.
Sustainable Church Flowers aims to make all church flower displays biodegradable, local, seasonal and foam free. They encourage the use of alternatives to florists' foam such as aluminium wire coils and sand. Beth created a magnificent arrangement using local flowers from her garden and a flower arrangers bucket . She suggested that dried flowers, berries and grasses can also be used. She explained the carbon footprint of imported flowers such as roses and lilies and encouraged the Deanery to look for different ways of commemorating loved ones at Easter, rather than the traditional but environmentally costly Arum lily.
If flowers have to be bought, the trade association Flowers from the Farm promotes a financially and environmentally sustainable local cut flower industry. They can advise on flowers for weddings, funerals and other events.
There is also a list of suppliers of sustainable funeral flowers Farewell Flowers
Rosemary and Beth asked representatives to talk to church flower teams and PCCs who can develop policies for church users who can also be sustainable.