People are taking “living green” more seriously than ever and being eco-friendly this holiday season is taking on more emphasis – especially in choosing a Christmas Tree. Should you buy a fresh Christmas Tree or an artificial one?

The optimal living green choice would be not have a Christmas Tree at all. You could decorate a tree in your yard or dust off that ceramic tree you made in pottery class. But if you want to stick to tradition and go for a Christmas Tree, you need to know which is more eco-friendly – a fresh Christmas Tree or an artificial Christmas Tree.

Both have there advantages. Artificial trees last for years and can save you money, a significant consideration in these tough economic times. Fresh Christmas Trees have that great pine smell that get you immediately in that Christmas mindset and bring back the holiday memories when you were a kid waiting for Santa.

But which is more eco friendly? Fresh Christmas trees are more environmentally friendly. Artificial trees are made from petroleum-based PVC (polyvinyl chloride) and may even contain lead. This could be a problem in homes with young children and/or pets.

Fresh Christmas trees, on the other hand, are typically grown on tree farms so they aren’t damaging our forest habitats. Selecting a fresh Christmas tree from a local tree farm is more eco-friendly because they avoid using pesticides and herbicides.

So this Christmas season why not be eco friendly and get the “greenest” Christmas Tree and support your local businesses.

When the holidays are over and you take the tree down, the eco-friendly solution is to have your Christmas Tree recycled. Contact your local chamber of commerce if you have questions about Christmas tree recycling in your community.

Whether you chose a fresh Christmas Tree or an artificial one, you can add you eco-friendly holiday bu using LED lights on your Christmas Tree. They use 90 percent less energy than traditional holiday lights and are definitely worth purchasing.

So this year enjoy your Christmas Holiday in an eco-friendly way!

source: duluthnewstribute.com

This entry was posted on Friday, December 11th, 2009 at 3:21 am and is filed under Greener Living. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.