Christmas trees: how to make an eco-friendly choice
Set on a making this Christmas a green one? Here’s how to make the most environmentally sound choice when picking your Christmas tree.
Image: Kite Adventures
A Christmas tree may be the centre of your festive traditions, but is it time to start looking at it with a more critical eye to examine its environmental impact?
If you’re dreaming of a green Christmas, the team at eco-friendly tour operator Kite Adventures have shared with us their guide to making the best choice of tree this year.
Artificial trees
Artificial trees are officially the worst chocie for the environment, as most are non-recyclable. However, if you plan to own your Christmas tree for 10 years or more, you could earn your buy a low impact status.
Cut trees
Cut trees are not the best choice for a sustainable Christmas, but they are 10 times better than an artificial tree. If you opt for a cut pine, look for sustainably grown options and trees that carry the FSC label. Always enlist in a tree recycling scheme and never take your tree to landfill.
If you’re buying a cut Christmas tree, check out our guide to which type of real tree is best for you.
Pot grown trees
Planting your Christmas tree in a pot an bringing it indoors during the festive period is a great way to have a sustainable Christmas. However, you need to remember that it’s an outdoor tree, and that it shouldn’t be kept indoors for more than 12 days to ensure it stays in good health. When it gets too big for the pot, time to plant it in the garden.
Go tree-less
This may not exactly sound like the epitome of getting into the festive spirit, but the best choice for the envrionment is to forego a tree completely. You could decorate an existing large house plant for a riff on Christmas decorating, or even plant a beautiful pine tree in the garden to decorate for a tree that you’ll get to enjoy year after year.
We’ve listed some of our favourite alternative Christmas tree alternatives, some of which are sure to have a low impact effect on the environment.