How To Shop For The Most Sustainable Christmas Tree

Plastic or real? This guide answers this question with tips to help you choose the most sustainable Christmas tree.

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Mirror, Mirror on the wall, what is the most sustainable Christmas tree of all? This has become one of the biggest environmental questions of the Holiday season. On one side are the artificial tree advocates stating that millions of trees are cut down yearly. This raises concerns over deforestation and from that standpoint artificial trees are considered better for the environment. In fact, in the U.S alone 25 to 30 million Christmas trees are sold yearly. On the other hand artificial Christmas trees are made of plastic and more often than not produced overseas that places the average carbon footprint at around 40 kg of CO2. So, which is better for reducing your environmental footprint?

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The answer isn’t as straightforward as you might think. Buying a real tree can be considered sustainable, but it depends on how it’s grown and disposed of. On the other hand, artificial Christmas trees can be sustainable, but that depends on how long you have the tree for. And, until the experts all agree, we’ve rounded up a few quick tips on how you can shop for a sustainable Christmas tree this Holiday season.

Buy Trees From Sustainable Forests

If you’re going to buy a real tree, ensure that the tree you bring home is sustainably sourced. You can look for a certification from the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) which ensures that forests are managed to conserve biodiversity, protect Indigenous lands, and prioritize reforestation.

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There are organic Christmas farms you can visit that practice all-natural methods for farming and pest control. Similar to how organic cotton can reduce water and chemical runoff into the soil by up to 90% when compared to conventional cotton, these farms will offer you a sustainable Christmas tree that poses a smaller threat to the environment. These farms don’t use artificial dyes, pesticides and herbicides. You can use a resource like the Green Promise to find a list of certified organic farms along with those that practice minimal pesticide use.

Recycle Your Christmas Tree

Disposing of your live Christmas tree is a different process than your standard recycling. When you’re finished with your tree after the holidays, avoid simply putting it out onto the curb. Instead, check with your city’s sanitation department to see if there are certain dates where they will collect trees for mulching or ‘treecycling’. If you’re city, town or municipality doesn’t offer tree recycling services, use platforms like Earth 911 to find tree recycling services in your area.

Rent A Sustainable Christmas Tree

There are companies that allow you to rent Christmas trees that come pre-decorated for the Holidays. After the Holidays, the trees are collected and replanted for at least 12 months so that they can rented again for next year. These trees still have their roots allowing them to be replanted and are considered one of the most sustainable options for Christmas trees since they aren’t disposed of, but instead are returned to the earth.

Invest In a ‘Forever’ Tree

Technically, artificial trees aren’t forever trees, but they can and should be viewed as that. These trees are made of plastic, PVC and metal. These materials require fossil fuels during production that emit CO2 emissions and more often than not are shipped from overseas. It’s estimated that a Christmas tree has to be used 10 times to negate its carbon footprint. That’s 10 years of bringing out your artificial Christmas tree to make it considered sustainable.