White House holiday decor features environmentally-friendly touches

The White House predicts that more than 50,000 people will walk through the executive residence this month to get a glimpse of the 2009 Christmas decorations.

While the 27 trees, 61 wreaths, and 2,700 yards of ribbon look like pretty traditional holiday trappings, it's nice to see the White House has adopted some eco-friendly touches this year. Six live trees wrapped in burlap will be adopted by the National Park Service after Christmas for replanting. Recycled and re-decorated ornaments from administrations past grace the official White House Christmas tree (an 18.5 foot douglas fir), which is lit with low-energy-use LED lights this year. And 500 stems of dried hydrangea were used in holiday displays, many of which have been repurposed from fresh arrangements.

For the other 308,130,200 or so people in America who aren't going to get to Washington, D.C., before Friday, here’s a two-minute tour of this year’s holiday decor, with First Lady Michelle Obama as guide.

-- Lisa Boone

Video courtesy of the White House

Comments

[jjall6]

I visited the White House this year and compared to previous administrations, both parties, I found this year's decorations very subdued on non-festive. You can see from the outside picture of the White House, that there was minimal effort to make the people's house look as beautiful and festive as we're used to. The White House staff and Park Service employees were also disappointed in the lack of beauty, joy and cheer. Surprisingly, they were pretty open about the fact that this administration does not celebrate Christmas and it was an effort to get this much decorating accomplished. Another significant disappointment was that the annual Holiday Tour book, that all previous administrations had published, was deemed unnecessary. The Manger was included but only as a last minute addition, after much coaxing. There were no nutcrackers or anything that reflects the joy, excitement, and enthusiasm of the season. Truly a let down.