First day of Christmas: 4 eco-friendly Christmas tree ideas

eco-friendly Christmas tree - climateaction

First day of Christmas: 4 eco-friendly Christmas tree ideas

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree, how lovely are thy branches. ?

We bet the composers of that Christmas song were referring to real trees in all of their glory, not the artificial ones that contribute to pollution.

Do not get us wrong. Christmas trees, whether real or artificial, have some sort of carbon footprint which has a negative impact on the environment.

What about the decorations? your guess is as good as ours. They aren’t sustainable either.

A vast number of artificial Christmas trees are shipped to countries all over the world from China every year, resulting in tons of carbon emissions.

In addition to that, artificial Christmas trees are mostly made with a combination of steel and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) — a major source of phthalates which is a common chemical that disrupts the endocrine, upsetting how hormones are created and distributed throughout the body.

The components of these artificial trees make them unrecyclable at the end of their lifecycle.

Having sustainability in mind, our first Christmas gift to you on our 12 Days of Christmas Special series is helping you get that eco-friendly Christmas tree for a greentabulous decoration and yuletide experience.

DIY trees

When it comes to having a totally zero waste Christmas tree, making one yourself with eco-friendly items from your home is as close as you can get to sustainability.

You can make a DIY tree by assembling sticks and twigs into a tree shape and adorning them with eco-friendly DIY decorations and ornaments or simply stacking books creatively to form a tree.

One good thing about this is that you get to involve your kids in this fun activity to create a good family tradition of putting together and decorating an eco-friendly Christmas tree.

Tree farms

So, we’ve agreed to go green this Christmas by purchasing real trees because they are good for the environment — they clean the air by absorbing carbon emissions, help the soil, and provide a habitat for wildlife.

Now, where on earth can you get them?

Well, you can get them on tree farms because that’s where they are grown contrary to popular belief that they are cut down from forests.

On these tree farms, per one tree that is cut down for Christmas, another one to three trees are planted to replace it, making room for sustainability and an efficiently-managed means of sourcing an eco-friendly Christmas tree.

You can purchase directly from the farm closest to you to ensure you’re getting a fresh one and that you skip out on transportation.

Potted Christmas trees

There are potted Christmas trees if you have a garden with extra space. This also means you get a chance to keep it for a long time.

However, potted trees need a whole lot of care (watering, trimming, etc.) as they can be demanding when they are potted.

The good part is that you get to decide whether to plant it in your garden for the whole year or whether to keep it potted.

Rent a tree

If you love the idea of having a living Christmas tree in your home but you do not have the space to keep it, you can try renting one.

A company like Tree-Mendous has a service that delivers living, potted trees to your doorstep.

Unlike other real trees, renting potted ones gives you the luxury of returning them after use. So, you’re not burdened with caring for them.

And so, our first day of Christmas ends. Join us tomorrow as we will be sharing eco-friendly Christmas tree decoration ideas for you to try out this season. Happy holiday!

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