How to pick an enviro-friendly holiday tree

Got your holiday tree yet? I hope not, because then this post's coming too late for you. Some tips for an eco-friendly holiday tree:

First, get a real tree, as Umbra of Grist recommends. Those artificial ones are mostly vinyl Chinese imports.

Then, try to find a local and /or organic tree. Now, the organic option, I found, isn't easy to locate. The closest organic holiday tree farm I found is in Los Gatos, which is a bit far; if you know of other organic farms, please share the info.

You can get a sustainably-raised tree delivered to you. The miniature Christmas tree from Organic Bouquet is a Veriflora certified hearty blue fir. However, this tree isn't local; it "hails from the Southern reaches of the Rocky Mountains." 

So local, even if not organic, might be the most practical way to go. Many of the pre-cut trees sold in lots come from out of state, but you can visit one of  many nearby choose & cut lots to get your tree. Whole Foods is another option if a mini tree will work for you; those trees aren't organic, but are grown in California.

There are benefits of getting a mini tree too: Most come live, and after the holidays, you can plant the tree and let it live on. Here are instructions for planting a live, post-holiday tree.

If you want a tree that keeps on giving, get a non-traditional fruit tree for your holiday decorations. My friend Summer got a lemon tree last year; this year, she has lots of lemons! Local poinsettias are a pretty option too -- and available at the Wednesday Santa Monica Farmers' Market on Arizona this holiday season.

Like the idea of a holiday tree, but don't want one dropping needles in your house? TreePeople's Gift of Life Tree Dedication Program can help you out. A $25 donation lets you dedicate one tree to a recipient of your choice, who'll get a nice card about your green and generous gift.

But I'm actually holding off on getting a tree for now, partly because I'm a general holiday procrastinator, and partly because I'm a hopeful optimist -- about this tree raffle happening next week. That's right, on Monday, Dec. 3, from 5 - 8 p.m., eco-home store Livingreen in Culver City is having a holiday open house -- with a raffle for a green holiday tree.

The tree's an eco-procrastinator's dream: Pre-decorated with ornaments made by local architects, interior designers and design students, and trimmed with LED energy-saving lights. Raffle tickets cost $2 each; proceeds go to Habitat for Humanity.

The open house will also have cookies and cider and holiday music -- as well as green nighttime shopping. Livingreen stores  in Montecito and Santa Barbara are having similar events, in case some readers live out there.

Wish me luck on the raffle. In the meantime, read up on why LEDs are the best holiday lighting option, even if it means throwing out -- or turning into ornaments -- your old conventional bulbs.

More about holiday trees in late December, when it's time to think about recycling them.

Top photo by Brady via Flickr; bottom photo by Summer Bowen

Comments

[tarbubble]

ahh, just in time. i struggle with the x-mas tree dilemma every year. i'm lucky in that i have two local cut-your-own tree lots to choose from, but i hate the idea of cutting down a tree at all. maybe i'll try to find an old tinsel tree on craigslist.

[m]

There are actually a ton of alternatives depending on how willing you are to deviate from the norm and what you goal is when displaying a tree in your home. In general you can also do this relatively inexpensively. Do you like the smell of the tree? Do you want a place to hang your ornaments? Do you just feel like the tree adds to your Christmas decorations?

-Collect branches from any sort of tree (including left over branches from a christmas tree lot), bend them into a circle and tie them up yourself to create a wreath. This can easily be decorated with ornaments or whatever else you normally put on a tree. Wreaths can be displayed both on doors and on walls.
-Build yourself a skeleton tree and base out of any sort of reclaimed materials (wires, dowels, dry cleaner hangers, scrap wood, tree branches, etc.) and use it to display your ornaments.
-Create tree shapes (a cone) from paper mache and then poke little holes in it to hang your ornaments on it with hooks. Depending on how willing you are to get into the project and your set up, you could keep the tree hallow, poke additional holes in the tree and set up a light bulb source under the tree or stick christmas lights through the holes as well (kinda like a christmas version of a jack o lantern).

[h]

I'm appalled - I have trouble understanding the opposition towards getting an artificial tree - is it because they are "Chinese imports"? Yes, yes, plastic trees are made from petroleum products, but they can be reused (i.e. no need to kill and transport live trees every year) - the one in our home we've been using for at least the last twenty years....

[Siel]

I generally don't get a tree, but I will this year if the Livingreen thing works out :) Thanks for the creative nontraditional ideas, m :)

h -- Fret not -- The idea's not to get a NEW artificial tree. If you already bought one, then there's nothing wrong with reusing it. Follow the link to Umbra's column for more deets on why live trees are generally a lot better --

[Roxanne]

The tree is really my favorite part of Christmas. This year I was having major eco-guilt. But I too did some investigating for my blog and found the same info. Thank you as always for getting the word out.