I understand every greenie is going to be having kittens because I’m not espousing the benefits of having a ‘real’ cut Christmas tree adorn the living room. But that’s okay because I think you’ll find that you agree (maybe?).
1. Your cut Christmas tree may not make it to Christmas
When it comes to buying a Christmas tree you have two options to consider. Firstly, do you rush and buy one as soon as they become available or do you wait until the last minute hoping to pick a fresh one just in time for Christmas?
If you chose the first option you may already be looking at a wilting tree wondering whether it was the right decision. But hopefully you’ve already taken some preventative care measures and your tree is doing better than your outdoor garden plants.
If you held off, then depending on sales, you may find that you either miss out altogether or that you buy a tree that isn’t fresh anyway as vendors try to offload their excess stock.
2. Fresh cut Christmas trees come au naturel
That includes bugs and other unwanted insects. Yep. Even spiders! This is especially true in the northern hemisphere where eggs have been hatched laying dormant through the winter only to be aroused into action from the warmth of your house.
Suddenly a plague of aphids or spiders begins to invade your house and you find yourself reaching for the pesticide spray. And we all know there’s nothing better for the environment than spraying pesticides into the atmosphere.
All your ‘green’ enthusiasm goes up in a puff of insect spray.
3. You just killed a living plant
We’re not talking about cutting a few flowers to embellish the living areas. We’re talking about cutting a tree down – regardless of whether it’s renewable or not.
Plants are heavy resource dependents and to remove them from the ground in an immature state can’t be good for the soil. While research has shown that mature pines successfully replenish the earth little or no studies have proved that replacing immature pines year after year are doing any good for the soil.
So, there you have it. The best green options for having a Christmas tree are to grow your own in a pot or buy a plastic one that will last 10-15 years.