New Twist on Green Christmas Trees
November 30, 2009 by Peggy Rowland
Filed under Holiday
You can avoid fake plastic trees and cut lives ones. My favorite option has been to go with a living tree that can later be planted in the ground. That means you don’t have a dead tree or a plastic (likely toxic and non-recyclable) one to store. However, living Christmas trees should only stay inside for about two weeks. And you can’t plant in frozen soil.
If you want a more permanent, yet still eco-friendly solution, check out the new Tannenboing! Yes, it’s a bit expensive, but a good product to keep your eye on. Here’s a look at the eco-tree naked.
The Tannenboing is a spiral, aluminum Christmas tree with holes for ornaments. It stands at more than 6 feet, but when stored it’s reduced to only 3 inches in height! And the tree is made of 52% recycled aluminum, plus it’s completely recyclable should you part with it.
Tannenboings, hand-crafted in the US, are available at a few retail locations, or they may be ordered online.
Yes, these trees are new, so this year only 100 signed and numbered first-edition tannenboings will be offered.
What do you think of the modern eco-twist called Tannenboing? I’d love to try it out at some point.
(Images via Tannenboing)
This is such a difficult dilemma. The one in this post is great as an accent but it just doesn’t feel like Christmas. I have bought a live tree before and then planted it afterwards, we lived in a climate where we could do that. It was a good option. But if you don’t live in a climate like that you could have the tree mulched and then use the mulch or donate it as a way to offset some of the waste. We did get a live tree this year. It seems no matter how much I do through out the year I can’t give up my live Christmas tree.
interesting
We get lots of questions about this issue and it can be a tough one. But as with everything eco-leaning, more and more solutions are available.
Try to see if you can rent a tree from a local nursery. If you live in California, there is a company that rents trees and one near us also in Seattle. Not sure about the rest of the country, but may catch up next year!
Find a tree farm that uses IPM or integrated pest management which puts a lot fewer chemicals into the ground and water than usual. We love our local tree farmer and his farm also is “salmon safe,” a new designation that shows he is doing everything he can to protect our native species. Buying from a tree farm is just like buying from any farm. You buy veggies, right? Why not trees? While they are growing, they are doing good for the environment and once they are cut, new ones are planted. We compost ours, but there are other uses for them as well.
Also, we’ve found some fun alternatives like the one in this post. One we like is from http://www.thecardboardtree.com made from recycled cardboard, kids can color and of course, it can last for a long time.
I’m just finishing up a wood one myself, made with dowels (wanted to use fallen wood, but it’s too darn wet!). It won’t look like a traditional tree (much less smell like one), but it will be a fun repository for our ornaments just the same.
This is way too awesome. Why haven’t I seen this?
What?! I found something before you?
I KNOW!
I love this though. I’ll have to link it somewhere.