Instead of buying a plastic tree made with petroleum materials that are dangerous for you and your children, and
Instead of cutting down and killing a live tree,
You can Rent a Christmas tree!
In San Francisco, the city started this program with 100 young potted trees and within a week, all were claimed. At $90 a tree, in a pot - you pick the type of tree, from fruitless olives to Brisbane boxes. Then after the holidays, the city picks up the trees. This is a guilt-free option for families who know the true costs of killing a tree or purchasing a plastic tree can do to the earth.
"Environmentalists say growing real trees to chop down for a few weeks of pleasure is a waste of valuable resources, and discarding them often clogs local landfills. Artificial trees often contain lead and other harmful chemicals that eventually end up in landfills, too."
Try your local nursery - you'll be surprised at how many of them would consider renting you a potted tree for the holidays!
USA Today - San Francisco Rents Christmas Trees
Original Living Christmas Tree Company - since 1992 (sold out for 2007)
I checked into this idea for my own home and found out that the potted tree can only be inside for a week. It's our family tradition to have the tree up until Serbian Christmas which is on January 7th. So we just went with a local tree farm. That way, we are supporting a local farm and we keep the tree for more than a month. After we are done with it, it gets chopped into mulch for gardening. I would prefer a potted tree but it's not the best option for our family.
ReplyDeleteSorry to say that it's not the best option for our family either because I am allergic to all kinds of Evergreen trees. =(
ReplyDeleteBut yours is a wonderful idea for the other families...they can rent it for a week! Some people don't want to have Christmas tree in their house for a month...they would rather it for a week.
Keep up blogging!
keri,
ReplyDeletethere are some trees that can be kept inside longer than a week, for instance, the trees rented by San Francisco city goes inside people's homes on Dec 14th and are picked up after New Year's.
i would assume the length a tree can stay inside has a lot to do with the type of the tree. i'm no tree specialist - in fact, i have some really large plants at home that look like trees and they've never been outside... and they're thriving just fine! :)
a friend of mine is using a large plant of hers as her christmas tree. it's never been outside of the house...
deb ann,
if you read the San Francisco city website, you'll see not all of the trees they rent are evergreen. some are decidiuous trees, such as the one pictured on the San Francisco article on USA today. nice to have options? smile.
raychelle
Brilliant idea!!!I have bought trees in a pot and planted them in our yard after Holidays, but renting is progressive idea.
ReplyDeleteI did not realize that plastic trees have lead in them. Where did you hear about that?
that quote about plastic trees containing lead was from USA Today article... click on the link at bottom of the "rent a christmas tree" post. you'll go directly to the article! :)
ReplyDeleteGreat idea! Another suggestion is to have a Norfolk pine tree growing indoors. I have one that's about 20 years old now. I bought it when it was tiny. Now it's taller than I. It would make an excellent Christmas tree although I've never bothered to decorate it. Wishing you all blessed holidays!
ReplyDelete