O! Christmas Tree

December 15, 2009

There is a tree in my kitchen. Finally.

The holiday season is here, and I finally came up for air this past weekend. Instead of working, I turned my sights towards making my home a little more, well… homey. My kids are pretty much grown, but fortunately they still love the tradition of piling in the car to fetch the Christmas tree and getting the house decked out in red, green and gold for the holidays.

It was drizzly and soupy-gray this weekend, Alabama’s version of snow. In the past we have, without fail, purchased our live Christmas tree from the local Boy Scout troop. The trees there are beautiful, expensive and support a good cause. On top of that, they are shipped in from a tree farm in North Carolina, so at least they don’t travel all the way across the country to get here. It is a good choice. Still, this year, in an effort to reduce our carbon footprint, I decided to look for a tree farm and purchase my tree locally.

We had so much FUN!

In a section of town, where you would never expect to find a farm of ANY kind, we located Pine Hill Tree Farm. Sloping hills dotted with trees, a barn-like structure complete with complimentary hot chocolate, and a smelly, but clean shed for a couple of live reindeer made the trip to get this year’s tree an adventure. (No comment on the reindeer, that’s a whole separate post). We were the only customers, due to the heavy fog and rain… but there we were, traipsing around the hills to find just the right tree.

This family-owned farm has cut trees that have been shipped in from North Carolina, and as far away as Oregon. However, they also grow several varieties of Cedar trees such as Leland Cypress and Deodara Cypress. The well-known Frasier Fir doesn’t grow at elevations this low, so they ship those in pre-cut. We chose a beautiful Leland Cypress Cedar tree, which we have never had. At first I was hesitant, it seemed like something you get at the nursery to make a hedge between yourself and your neighbor. But, we love it! It is fragrant and the foliage is soft and not so prickly as a Frasier Fir tree. It has been lovingly shaped into the traditional teardrop expected of a Christmas tree, and it works perfectly in our space. The guys working the farm even cut the tree for us! What more could you ask for? Oh yes, did I mention it was very reasonably priced?

We have always been a live-tree family, even though I admit, I do have a small, silver tinsel tree in my front window. Straight from Target, it is retro and cute and I love it, but I will never purchase another artificial tree. Oh, let’s call them what they are, FAKE trees. I admit in the past, I’ve been tempted by the “ease” of owning a fake tree, but just couldn’t ever bring myself to go there. Something about decorating a plastic tree just didn’t seem, well… real.

Here are my reasons for loving a live tree:

• Live trees are grown on farms, not cut out of the forest. This is a fairly recent innovation; so many people still think trees are being ravished in the forest to supply the demand for Christmas trees. Instead, think of this: in the U.S. there are around a half billion trees growing on Christmas tree farms. On average, 2,000 Christmas trees are planted per acre.

• Growing Christmas trees provide a habitat for wildlife, plus an acre of Christmas trees provides for the daily oxygen requirements of 18 people.

• Live Christmas trees smell really good (unless you have allergies) and make your home feel festive and warm

• Artificial trees may be easy to set-up and may cost a little less in the long run. But, most artificial trees have a place in your home for an average of 6-8 years. At some point they ALL end up in the landfill, where they are not biodegradable and will last for eons!

• Artificial trees are mostly manufactured in China from recycled PVC plastic, and shipped to the U.S. Let me say that again, PVC plastic. (Think chemicals and petroleum based products)

Whatever your choice of tree this year, I do hope that you and your family have as much fun picking out your tree as we did picking out ours. I admit it’s easy for me to turn scrooge-ish this time of year, with all of the time constraints and pressures that are imposed on me. The choice to go out in the rain in search of a tree turned out to be great fun and went a long way toward reviving my own sense of wonder and holiday joy.

Filed under: Eco Around the House,Inspiration,Uncategorized

Tags: Christmas, Green Decorating, green living, Holiday, Lifestyle