Sustainable Holidays: The Christmas Tree

Let’s face it – living sustainably is tough. The holidays hold their own pressures. Mix the two together, and it’s a recipe for stress and a sense of failure.

My hope is that with a little bit of planning and creativity, we can keep our holiday traditions meaningful while making them more sustainable.

This is the first in a series of posts aimed at making living sustainably through the holidays a little easier. I’m starting with one of the staples of Christmas – the Christmas tree! It’s a tough one to tackle because it holds so much meaning for a lot of people, but it’s also one of the most common conundrums this time of year.

I’m including ideas for alternative to both your traditional “live” tree and the standard artificial tree.

Live Trees

In a lot of ways, a traditional real tree is better than a standard commercial fake tree. For one thing, at least it isn’t made of plastic! In general I’m in favor of natural materials over synthetic ones.

On the other hand, the traditional tree is “single use,” and after Christmas many head straight to the landfill. And while it’s better than the fake plastic tree in the landfill, at the end of the day, it is still waste.

So what to do when we feel damned either way? What can we do if we really can’t give up that authentic pine smell?

Living Trees

First, I’d say consider going for a real live tree. One that hasn’t been cut down, but is actually still growing in a pot. Like this one:

If you need more ornament space but can’t find a potted tree big enough, consider decorating several smaller trees instead! Once the season is over, you can find a place to plant it permanently. Or keep it potted and keep it on your porch the rest of the year.

For more information about caring for a live tree, check out this article from the Audubon Society: 365 Days of Christmas.

Other Festive Plants

And if you want to go really untraditional, the tree doesn’t even have to be a pine tree! I have a potted lime tree that lives on my porch most of the year but comes in at winter time, and you bet I cover him in ornaments! We also have a large jade plant that I’ve been known to hang a few ornaments on.

Last year we even found a tree shaped rosemary plant. First we decorated it, and then we used it for cooking! And thinking of live plants at Christmas, nothing it more festive to me than Christmas cactus!

Throw some ornaments into the pot and boom! Instant decor!

Go Small

Second, if you really want that piney smell, consider getting a live wreath or centerpiece instead of a whole tree. It might still end up in the trash, but at least it’s LESS trash.

I really love this small boxwood tree arrangement by Montville Florist in CT:

If you have a good relationship with your florist, you could probably even get them to wire in a few of your own ornaments for a personal touch, or you could take a class and learn how to make your own. Making your own arrangements is a lot of fun and would make a great new holiday tradition.

Sustainable Christmas Tree Disposal

Finally, if you decide to go for a cut tree, try to reuse the tree in some way instead of just putting it on the curb. These articles are a great place to start for ideas on how to dispose of your Christmas tree while helping wildlife or how to upcycle it:

• National Wildlife Federation: Choosing a Wildlife-Friendly Christmas Tree
• University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension: Your Christmas Tree Could Benefit Winter Wildlife
• The Cornell Lab: Your Christmas Trees And Holiday Wreaths Can Double As Bird Habitat
• This Old House: 10 Uses for Your Dead Christmas Tree

Need more ideas? Search “creative reuse Christmas tree” and “upcycle Christmas tree” for more resources!

Artificial Trees

Artificial trees have their place, too. For one thing, not everyone has a yard where they can plant a live tree or use a cut tree for wildlife. For another, you might be like my mom and be allergic to all kinds of pine. If she wants a tree to decorate at Christmas without also getting bronchitis, she has to go the fake route.

And to be fair to fake trees, at least they aren’t single use. You can buy one and use it for years and years. Maybe even a lifetime if you take care of it! That would certainly save a lot in shipping emissions compared to a lifetime of real cut trees, although I don’t know if anyone has done a lifecycle assessment comparison of real vs. artificial trees.

Or maybe you’re like me and bought a fake tree before you started your zero waste journey. It doesn’t make sense to just throw it away now when it still has many good years of life left in it.

My first tip for going the artificial route is to try to buy second hand if you can. If you already thrift regularly you know that thrift stores always have tons of holiday decorations. If you aren’t generally a thrifter, you will be pleasantly surprised at the quality of trees you can find “used.” There are lots of reasons to donate trees that are still in good shape – moving to a bigger or smaller place, combining households, or switching back to live.

My other tip is to get creative and break away from the standard commercial artificial tree look. Here’s some of my favorite examples on non-traditional artificial trees

Wooden Christmas Trees

This one is from Caravati’s Architectural Salvage in Richmond, VA:

It lies flat for storage, as seen above, but the branches also spin out for a 3D tree:

I’d probably put some hooks on it so I could hang ornaments, but I’m pretty jealous over here thinking about how compact it is for storage.

Here’s the ones they made out of old door casings and doors:

This is a similar style of wooden tree with a tidier look:

This one is much bigger, and also available on Etsy:

Wall Mounted Christmas Trees

And to break away from wooden trees, this one from A Joyful Riot is a bit different! Scroll to the bottom of their page for the how-to link:

If copper pipe is out of your budget, I bet you could get much the same effect with painted dowel rods! Not only is it easy to store, but a much better solution for people worried their cats or small children might knock down the tree. Kit + Forage did the same idea using pine boughs:

Ceiling Mounted Christmas Trees

Another idea for saving trees from paws, tails, and grabby hands is to hang it from the ceiling. I’m not a super huge fan of the upside down Christmas tree, myself, but I do like the look of this wreath chandelier from Make Them Wonder:

If you love that pine smell, you could use fresh wreaths every year. Just imagine – ornaments hanging from each tier, a big pile of presents on the table underneath, maybe even a plate of cookies! Mmm, cookies.

Martha Stewart has a video tutorial:

Christmas Village Display Trees

Another idea that I think looks really nice is the Christmas village tree. I think it would be pretty easy to make out of some plywood, some large wooden spacers, and some pegs. It would come apart and store easily, and every year you could spruce (haha, get it!) it up with fresh pine trimmings:

Be sure to check out the stunner posted on River City Villagers!

Or you could go for the corner variety, like these guys are building. I like the first video because he uses hinges (again, if you can’t tell, I’m BIG on easy, compact storage), but the second video provides links to plans. I think both are worth a watch if you want to go this route!

Or you can get even more creative and upcycle an old ladder:

A quick image search for “ladder Christmas tree” should find you all kinds of fun ideas.

More Holiday Related Content

Learn about the history of the song “Deck the Halls”.

See mountain dulcimer tab and notation for A Gloucestershire Wassail Song.

Check out this photo tutorial on Decorating Glass Ornaments.