Evergreen or faux green?

That is the ques­tion this time of year: what is the “green­est” option for a Christ­mas tree? Should you pur­chase an arti­fi­cial tree, cut a tree or get one you can plant? Here are some thoughts on the matter:

I’ve read lots on this topic over the years and the con­sen­sus seems to be this: pur­chas­ing a new arti­fi­cial tree is not the best option. These trees are made with petroleum-based prod­ucts and aren’t very eco-friendly like you would think because, after all, they are reusable. If you already have one, well, then, you are set-no worries.

Cut­ting a tree down at a local tree farm or pur­chas­ing a cut tree ranks sec­ond in the best options with the only caveat being that you are chop­ping a tree down. But here’s the thing-most farms con­tin­u­ally plant and raise more trees, right? One resource sug­gested you make a tra­di­tion of plant­ing a tree at Easter if you cut a tree at Christ­mas. That’s a neat idea and all, but it seems like if you are con­scious enough to put your tree out for recy­cling for use as mulch or put it in the woods some­where (with per­mis­sion mind you) where birds and furry wood­land crea­tures can use it for shel­ter, then you are being eco-friendly.

Pur­chas­ing a tree that has the root bulb and can be planted after the hol­i­day seems to rank up there as the top eco-choice. I love that idea, although I would have to give the tree away to some­one who could plant it as there is no place to put it in my yard. I do love the fra­grant aroma of a fresh, live tree, but we haven’t had one in years since our new kit­ten scaled our last live tree in the mid­dle of the night and knocked it over-several times.

After that fiasco, we pur­chased an arti­fi­cial tree at Good­will. That seemed like a good option since the tree was already made and needed a new home. I think we’ll try a live tree again next year and see how the cat, and the baby, does with it.

So, what­ever your tra­di­tions and options are, just keep an eye to the “green” side and be sure to reduce, reuse and recy­cle this sea­son. No sense in fill­ing up land­fills with our hol­i­day trash if we can avoid it, right? That’s a gift to the planet.

Tues­day Trip­pier lives in Delaware, is a writer and mother of four, and has a spe­cial inter­est in green liv­ing and local food.

Posted by Tuesday Trippier on Dec 5 2012. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS Feed. Comments can be made below.