Who Wants to Celebrate With A Dead Tree?
Did you know that every time a Christmas tree gets cut down, an elf dies? It’s true. Ok, seriously, it’s a little crazy that we celebrate this holiday by killing a tree! Especially when there are so many other ways to decorate. Here are some options:
Buy a Live Tree
Stores like Home Depot sell potted trees. You can decorate them then replant them after the holidays. Decorate your living tree with stuff you have. Photos, concert ticket stubs, cookie cutters, twine, and any crafts your kids make in school, all make great Christmas tree ornaments.
Adopt a Christmas Tree
San Diego has a great adopt a Christmas tree program where “elves” deliver live trees before Christmas and pick them up again afterward to be replanted. If you live in the San Diego area, hurry because they are already almost sold out. Many cities offer similar programs, so do some research on Google or call around and find out who sells live trees.
Decorate A Tree In Your Yard
I love this option! If you have outdoor lights already, use them until you are ready to give them away. Or, you can recycle them with LED Christmas Lights. If you’re buying new Christmas lights, LED lights are a more eco-friendly option. If your town has a tree at City Hall or in another public place, take your family to the tree lighting ceremony, and enjoy a giant Christmas tree with the whole community.
Reminder: Don’t Buy A Plastic Tree
A good rule of thumb is to stay away from plastic as much as possible, Christmas trees included. Most plastic trees get used about four times, then they’re discarded and end up sitting in a landfill.
Next, check out my ideas for eco-friendly gift wrapping here!
*UPDATE*
Some of you were upset on behalf of those who grow and sell Christmas trees, so I wanted to explore this issue a little more. According to Care2, it takes an average tree about a decade to reach the right height to be sold as a Christmas tree. While the tree is growing, it absorbs CO2 from the atmosphere and supplies oxygen, which is good, but if it’s grown far away from your house, the transportation of the cut tree results in unnecessary carbon emissions.
I maintain that the most environmentally friendly options are to buy a live tree (which gets replanted after you’re done with it), craft a tree from materials you already have, or not buy a tree at all. I respect the life of a tree, and it makes me sad to see Christmas trees lined up in gutters and on curbs after the New Year, waiting to be taken to the landfill. Not a pretty sight.
That said, there are eco options for buying a cut tree: get it from a local, sustainable farm. Call ahead and ask where your local Christmas tree lot got its trees to determine if they are grown locally or if the trees were transported over a long distance. Whatever you do, steer clear of artificial trees. If you’re wondering, (because I was surprised when I learned this too) this article provides a list of reasons why artificial trees are not eco-friendly. Keep in mind that trees left curbside may or may not be taken to a yard waste recycling center – every city is different, so once the holidays are over, check out Earth 911’s guide to recycling your Christmas Tree to make sure your tree doesn't end up in a landfill.
Photo source: flickr.com / Lori L. Stalteri
26 comments
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Thanks for sharing this, Alicia. Growing up we always cut down our own tree from a nearby farm, and I'm fairly certain it got composted because my parents are old hippies :) I love the way real trees make the house smell, which is one reason I'd never get a fake one, but you bring up a great point about fake ones. Sure, your readers here may use them "forever" but there are millions who will just toss them after a couple of years. I love the idea of a rented or potted tree - seems like less work too!
I wanted to add that just because what Alicia is saying is unpopular among small business owners, and could possibly cause them to go out of business, doesn't mean that what they are doing it right and eco-friendly. I think there ARE small tree farms that are doing a good job of being eco-friendly, but I'm guessing there are a lot that aren't... and the transportation/pollution factor is something we cannot ignore. So it still our responsibility to find the most environmental friendly way to do things, just like we do with local organically farmed foods. -
Thanks for sharing this. We did buy a cut tree, but we do compost it. I don't think that makes it much better, though. I was very against getting a real Christmas tree at all, but my husband insisted and there it is. I did not even know that Home Depot sold trees in pots! That is DEFINITELY what we will get next year! We live in the suburbs and don't even have any trees in our yard, sadly :( But, if we got a potted tree we could easily change that! Thanks again, I shared this on Facebook.
I like this creative, cheap, DIY tree my friend made: http://myfroley.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/diy-pom-pom-ball-christmas-tree.html
I also saw a blog post where someone decorated a painting ladder with lights and ornaments that was very creative and cool looking, but I can't find the link. -
This year we made our tree out of an old tomato cage from the garden. It turned out awesome! We decorated it with lights and ornaments we've collected over the years. We propped it up on a table in the front window. Love it! I love that it's eco, and it didn't cost a thing! -
This post really helped open my eyes. This is what I will be doing next year: The oddly shaped bush in our front patio space (we live in a condo) will be decorated with lights and homemade decorations. We will get a small potted tree for a tabletop decoration if needed, but then we can plant it next to the bush in front after the new year. We are hoping to only stay in our house for the next couple of years. Perhaps by then we will have planted a number of trees in the patio. It creates privacy and is eco friendly! -
There are also many things you can do with a tree instead of putting it curbside. Our small town does not have a composting program. We compost ourselves. We do get a cut tree from a local tree farm. It's a wonderful family tradition (though we are leaning towards buying a potted tree in the future and donating it after the holidays to a city park). Every season, we place our tree in the backyard. We prop it up and hang birdseed and corn cobs from the boughs. We enjoy the wildlife it brings to our back yard. Once the winter passes, we use the pines in our flower beds to deter our cat from using them as her personal litter box. The main trunk is then cut to edge garden/flower/vegetable beds. The other bits and pieces go right into the compost. We have bought locally, use the entire tree, and even let the neighborhood wildlife enjoy it. Some years, we have placed outdoor lights on it and enjoyed it during the spring. Thanks for bringing this up on your blog. We toyed with an artificial tree........it just didn't seem right. I LOVE the rent-a-tree programs....ah, to live in a larger city!!
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Farmed Christmas trees do not have anywhere near a nature lifespan.
Justification creates interesting excuses. -
You can probably find a fake one on Freecycle. Yes, it's plastic, but you're saving it from the landfill. And not all families have the luxury to throw it away after then get a new one the next year, or even years down the line. We've had the same fake one since I was a kid. Also, there are areas where trees need to be cut down to prevent fires, especially in the SW. So you might as well buy one that would otherwise just be "trash". -
Personally, I think buying a responsibly farmed cut tree is just fine. Not everyone has yards or the capability to do a live tree, and using a cut tree is supporting acres of farmed land. Yes - there are other things they could farm besides Christmas trees, but if the demand goes down, you also run high-risk of the land being sold to developers instead. If you look at it in terms of "slaughtering" a tree as if it has no other use once Christmas is over, are you not also "slaughtering" the lettuce you used to make a salad? It's like everything else, learn about the place you're buying from and decide if it aligns with your values or not.
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You may not agree with her not supporting using chopped tree for decoration during the holidays, but you can't argue that they are Dead Trees. Yes, a tree is planted to 'replace' the tree, but when you chop a tree down, it dies, therefore becoming a dead tree. And if people stopped buying those trees, yes they might go out of business. Or, they could instead plant fruit trees and make their money off of the produce. Throw in some organic vegetables and such and they would still be able to support themselves. Not slaughtering trees isn't the end of their ability to use their land for profit. -
Do some research before you post such insane things as this. We cut down our tree from a local Christmas Tree farm. For every tree that is cut down a new tree is planted. The farm is acres and acres of trees. If consumers stopped purchases "dead trees" as you call them these farms would go out of business possibly even selling the property to developers. People like you make my head hurt. -
We moved into our new home this last August and are in sad need of some landscaping and new family traditions to boot! So this year, I went out and found a beautiful young potted tree and the kids will decorate it the week before Christmas and then we will plant it together after the holiday. They are super excited about getting a new tree every year and planting it in the yard so I am thrilled about starting a successful new holiday tradition that I hope my kids will continue in the future when they have their own families. Since this is out first tree, it'll be planted right out front and we'll continue to decorate it outside as well.
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@Elizabeth London: Most trees are collected by the city and composted/recycled. They aren't going to waste. I proudly have my living Christmas tree up in my home, and I am going to have one up next year as well, and the year after that and the year after that, etc. -
TY! Alicia, a suggestion for next year would be to post this info a bit earlier in December - many folks already have their tree up. :-) -
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These are all great ideas although I think a plastic tree can be okay. We had our first one for 20 years until it literally started to fall apart. Then we used the branches to make decorations and kept the base. The next tree my mum used for a few years until she passed away and now I have it and will use it until I can use it no more. I agree you shouldn't use it for three years then throw it out but why are people doing that? Use it as long as you can then recycle the parts, sell it, or donate it to a family or organization that can afford one by would like one.
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While I understand the spirit of your post, there are a lot of very hard working people in the north who make their living planting and selling Christmas trees!! It is not a bad thing, really and they plant many many more trees than they cut down. it is a cycle. I don't mean to sound negative or anything, but there is a bunch of small business owners who make their living using the resources of our land in a sustainable, ecofriendly way. :)
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For Elizabeth London - I absolutely agree with you, a shame that people refuse to change their damaging habits because of tradition. But remember @RDylan, to keep a tradition going we need a future and there is no guarantee there will be much of a future as long as humans refuse to educate themselves and evolve. -
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@RDylan, Unfortunately that doesn't change the fact that the tree dies. I live in Central Oregon and a lot of people here just drive out into the woods and cut down tress that have been there for decades.
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It's actually perfectly fine to buy a cut tree for Christmas. Christmas trees are farmed just like grains. They are cut down, replaced with new trees, etc. Forests aren't clear-cut for Christmas trees, so you don't have to feel bad about going to your local Christmas tree farm and cutting down your own tree or heading to your local tree lot and buying a tree.
Having a real tree has always been my family's Christmas tradition and always will be.
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