Plan for the greenest Christmas tree

There are all sorts of shades of green when it comes to Christmas trees – here’s how the choices stack up.

NOT GREEN #1: Artificial trees you use for just a few years. Not only is this a waste of money, but resources too. Most artificial trees are made of some sort of plastic and imported from China, hitting you with a double ding (plastic and emissions).

NOT GREEN #2:  A Christmas tree from a non-local farm that’s been driven miles to get to your area – local is better.

NOT MUCH GREENER: Artificial trees you use for years and years. If you get a longer life out of your fake tree, it’s much better than the above situation, but not by much. For one, you’ve still got a tree made with toxic plastic material, and for two, almost no recycling centers will take these so it’s ending up in the landfill for sure.

GREENISH: Buy a Christmas tree from a local farm where they plant and harvest in a renewal cycle annually. I.e. they plant in the spring, harvest in the fall, and always have new trees growing. Give yourself one more point if you locate a local (NOT shipped in) organic Christmas tree. Give yourself another point if you recycle your tree after Christmas. Both these acts pump GREENISH up to MORE GREEN.

PRETTY DARN GREEN: Get a living Christmas tree from a local nursery and after the holidays, and thaw, plant it in your yard or in the community.

GREENEST: No tree OR decorate a standing tree on your property OR make a homemade tree out of recycled paper or other goods OR go with something ultra unique like the Eco Christmas tree by Buro North.

[image via stock.xchng]