Churches have been encouraged to ban floral foam in altar and pew arrangements, in a Church of England bid for sustainability.
The CofE’s General Synod will vote next month on a motion to eliminate the use of floral foam, which contains microplastics and cannot be recycled.
The motion was brought by the Bishop of Dudley, Rt Revd Martin Gorick.
“Members voting for this motion will encourage all Church of England parishes, chaplaincies and cathedrals to join this growing ecumenical movement glorifying God through sustainable church flowers," he said.
In a paper ahead of the Synod meeting in London in February, Bishop Gorick wrote: “From adorning altars to celebrating weddings and marking seasonal festivals, floral arrangements bring beauty, symbolism, and a sense of reverence to sacred spaces. Yet, behind their elegance lies an often-overlooked reality: traditional floristry can carry significant environmental costs. Imported blooms, single-use plastics, chemical preservatives, and non-compostable floral foam all contribute to waste and carbon emissions.”
The paper alleges that a single block of floral foam contains as much plastic as ten carrier bags and sheds microplastics that can enter soil and water, harming wildlife. Suggested alternatives include using chicken wire, twigs, taller vases, pebbles, sand, moss, and glass marbles.
It also encourages parishioners to source flowers from their own gardens, compost waste, and reuse arrangements from Sunday services for midweek events, or donate them to care homes and hospitals
The Sustainable Church Flowers (SCF) movement, which inspired the motion, began in Harpley, Worcestershire, in 2019. Bishop Gorick noted that it “began in a small Worcestershire village, where the PCC was determined to make a tangible difference locally.”