Sustainably Cropped Christmas Trees
“What should I buy? A real Christmas tree or an artificial Christmas tree?” This debate surfaces every year, and every year it’s worth discussing. The real question shouldn’t just be what’s better looking, or what better suits you, it should also be what are retailers doing to ensure that their product is sustainable. At Christmas Forest, we always have been, and always will be, on team ‘real Christmas tree’. You can’t capture the essence of Christmas with anything else. The look, the feel, the scent; real Christmas trees are Christmas, so we ensure ours are sustainably cropped.
We consider sustainable cropping a duty, rather than ‘an option’ and for every tree harvested another is planted in its place. This is just one of the steps we take to ensure a more ‘eco-friendly’ tree. We also have a nine-year harvest cycle, and this allows for a stable habitat that other species, especially birds, can flourish within. A slow growing crop like this also responds better to non-chemical intervention, so we do our absolute best to avoid chemically intervening wherever we can. This way we not only feel proud of our beautiful Christmas Trees but are comfortable in the knowledge that we are doing everything we can to encourage a sustainable environment.
So, what is best for minimising your carbon footprint? A real Christmas tree or an artificial Christmas tree? The answer is entirely dependent on YOU. An artificial tree is only going to reduce your carbon footprint if you continue to use it for up to twenty years (according to a recent study by an environmental consulting firm based in Montreal). This is because the production process requires a significant amount of energy. Additionally, since most artificial trees contain polyvinyl chloride (PVC), the waste materials are highly toxic and carcinogenic, thus making them difficult to dispose of effectively. Further to this, artificial Christmas trees also do not have the same ‘treecycling’ options as real Christmas trees. This means real Christmas trees can do so much more 'post-Christmas' than that artificial tree does sitting in your loft.
So, if you’re thinking of going artificial this year, think to yourself, "will you be using this for the next 20 years?" Will it be worth missing out on the beauty of a real Christmas Tree? Think of Christmas Forest and our sustainably cropped, real Christmas Trees.