Eco-Friendly Christmas

Stop me if you’ve heard of this before, but did you know there are companies ‘out there’ that will rent you a Christmas tree?! You heard me…RENT.

For those of us who aren’t fans of artificial trees, these companies allow you to enjoy the smell and ambiance of a real tree without it having to be killed for your entertainment.

Here are a few reasons why it’s better to rent a tree (courtesy the Christmas Tree Man):
1. They are alive and breathing in your home! A full size, live Christmas tree is the coolest seasonal houseplant of all time!
2. They are the most naturally shaped trees, better than a cut tree that has been netted for a week or a poor artificial imitation!
3. You can’t get fresher than a real live tree!
4. They are safer around pets and children. The rooted base is very heavy and is less likely to tip over.
5. Less of a fire hazard. Living trees don’t dry out like cut trees. If you’re going to put electric lights on a dry tree its going to be pretty dangerous.

I think this is brilliant. I LOVE Christmas trees, but it breaks my heart to watch them slowly die…though I suppose they are technically dead the moment they are cut down. I did come across a critic of this concept who recommended artificial trees because these potted trees might not do well once indoors. All I have to say is a little sick after the holidays is better than either all the way dead or petroleum product based decoration. The trees stay in homes for around 3 weeks only, because it is important that they don’t lose their cold-hardiness and think it’s spring, which would result in new buds coming out and being damaged in the harsh winter weather.

Christmas Tree Man based in the UK will deliver a tree of your choice between 4 – 8 feet tall, and then return to pick it back up after the holidays. They’ll even allow you to get the same tree year after year (unless a bird or other animal had made it their home)…which I think is a beautiful touch as you’d get to enjoy the changes in tree over time. The trees come in a pot (they are grown in a pot so the roots are never damaged) and are planted in the forest after Christmas (still in the pot). The roots are maintained the way a bonsai’s roots are, although they do require progressively larger pots over time.

The Original Living Christmas Tree Company based in Oregan provides trees that are between 5 – 7 feet tall. After the holidays the trees are taken and planted in watersheds all over the NorthWest…each tree has a home already specified before they even offer them for the holidays. If you decide you love your tree so much that you’d like to keep it, you can. Wouldn’t it be awesome if you planted the trees from monumental years like the birth of a child or your first Christmas as a family?
What’s interesting about this company is that they don’t grow or plant the trees themselves. They buy them, rent them out and then sell them at a reduced priced. It’s sort of like the trees go on a mini-break before heading to a new snazzy landscaping project somewhere.

These two companies in the Vancouver area offer trees as well:
CarbonSync
Evergrow Christmas Trees Co.

As you might expect, these companies deliver to limited areas, and I’m not sure how the trees would fare in warmer climates like we’ve got here in Savannah. Regardless…I wish I could rent a tree of my own this holiday.