How To Have An Eco-Friendly Christmas

Looking for the most eco-friendly Christmas tree option? Real Christmas trees are much more sustainable than artificial alternatives. In fact, one study concluded you’d have to use your fake fir for 20 years for it to be greener. That said, seven million real trees will be dumped in January rather than recycled.

This year you could go one further when it comes to an eco-friendly Christmas tree by renting a real tree from a British farm. Love a Christmas tree offers real Nordmann Firs delivered to your door from their Leicestershire family farm from £20. You decorate and care for the tree during the festive period, then they’ll pick it up and replant in January. Win, win.

To find a Christmas tree rental scheme near you and know how to pick the best tree for you, read our Christmas tree rental guide.

If you buy a tree, ensure it’s been grown as locally as possible: you can go to bctga.co.uk or growninbritain.org to find out about growers in your area. Also look out for the ‘Grown in Britain’ label or Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) ‘seal of approval’, both of which guarantee your tree has been grown to set environmental standards.

After Christmas, go to recyclenow to find out about drop-off points in your area, where your old tree will be recycled into chippings for local parks and woodland areas. Alternatively, take it to your local dump where you can add it to the other green waste or chop it up and stack the wood in your garden to create a habitat for birds and bugs.