It’s Day Seven of ‘Sustainable Christmas,’ and Global Action Plan is looking into how best to celebrate with the Christmas Tree! And so, the age-old question continues, should it be a real tree, a plastic tree, or are there any new, planet-friendly ways to celebrate the festivities?
- Firstly, regarding plastic trees, decorating and celebrating with real trees will consistently be a better option unless you have the artificial Christmas tree for over 5 years, “and that doesn’t even consider the carbon footprint” of transporting it from where it was manufactured.
- Secondly, the best approach for choosing a real Christmas tree is one that is locally sourced, which can then be recycled at the end of its life. Furthermore, in order to compensate for the carbon emissions of your own Christmas tree, why not donate some money to fund an international planting project – much like our Tree Planting Initiative!!
- Thirdly, you can use a potted Christmas tree. The tree can live in your garden for most of the year, and you can bring it indoors for the December festivities.
- And finally, a new solution to this age-old problem has offered the idea of renting a Christmas tree! Recently, more and more organisations have come to the conclusion that a novel answer to the Christmas Tree conundrum is to rent a tree. Fundamentally, the idea is simple: vendors provide a real tree for the Christmas season, and then all the customer has to do is return the tree “after the festive period, [and] trees are replanted so that they can be rented out again next year.”
In short: There are a range of eco-friendly ways to celebrate with a Christmas tree – so no one has to miss out on the full festive experience!