Guess how many Christmas trees are cut down and decorated for the season — in hotel lobbies, nursing homes, reception areas, and living rooms across the world? An estimated 25-30 million Christmas trees are sold every year in the US alone. And what happens to all these trees on December 26th? Like so many questions of eco-friendliness, the Christmas-tree one encourages thinking about the life cycle of things: For each item we use, where did it come from, how did it reach us — and what becomes of it once we’re finished? (For more on life-cycle assessment, we recommend reading Cradle to Cradle, one of our most dog-eared books ever, by architect/visionary Bill McDonough.)

Balsam Hill artificial tree

Are artificial trees greener because they’re used year after year? Or do fake trees use harmful elements in their manufacturing process?

This tree from Balsam Hill looks so real, right? Choose Aspen Estate Fir with faux wooden trunk, Colorado Mountain Spruce, or from a dozen other choices; decide height 6 – 30 feet tall, prestrung with LED twinklers. In cramped space? Consider the flatback model. Even order branch samples if you like! We can appreciate their no-shed, low-maintenance practicality on a TV set — but what’s the admire the True Needle ™ foliage, but what are they actually made of? Plastic? What type? Recycled plastic? (There’s no info on site, and the customer service number was busy when we called….)

Flatback tree saves space

Is it greenest of all to purchase a potted tree that can be planted after the holidays? Practically Green says Yes! Use a live Christmas tree. Treehugger.com’s Ask Pablo columnist tackled this conundrum:

…from a carbon emissions standpoint, a live tree cut from a tree farm (where it is replaced), and then composted was greener than a fake tree. That said, he contended that if you hike out into the woods and cut a tree yearly and do not replace it, then the fake tree is the way to go.

The greenest Christmas tree is actually a third option: a potted living tree you plant outside after the festivities. It will continuously absorb carbon long after it’s holiday decorations are removed. And it requires none of the resources used to manufacture and then ship an artificial tree. It’s also a lot better looking.

A potted tree that can happily grow for decades is ideal, but we realize this is not a practical solution for everyone.

Size: A live tree is heavier than a cut one, because of the root system, and the tree portion is likely to be smaller than you might expect. The folks at Rockefeller Center would have a terrible time finding a large-enough pot for their tree, which is 74 feet tall this year. Transporting immense trees from their native forests to their December habitat is a mindboggling carbon-footprint calculation; imagine adding a massive root ball to the equation?

Xmas tree at Rockefeller Center, a 74-foot-tall Norway spruce decorated with 5 miles of lights (30,000 LED bulbs) & will be turned into lumber for Habitat for Humanity after the holidays.

Our 2010 tree grew 8" taller in one year

Planning ahead. Planting a live tree after the holidays is one good solution, but it requires planning: you have to prepare a hole in your yard (if you live north, dig in advance of frost) or arrange to donate the live tree to a park or school nearby that wants it. Call city hall to find out.

Timing. You can’t bring a live potted evergreen indoors for more than a few days before it begins to suffer from the raised temperatures.

What to do with your cut tree after Christmas has come and gone? Some alternatives:

Mulch. Many towns and cities offer a free mulch program for spent trees, and some even pick up the trees curbside.  At Dunbar Cave State Park in Tennessee, about 1,000 recycled Christmas Trees get mulched for use on hiking trails every year.

Power. Residents of Burlington, Vermont, can drop off their trees to be chipped and burned to generate electricity for area power companies.

Dunes. Other municipalities organize projects to use trees for erosion protection. We’ve heard of these efforts in Louisiana, Alabama, the New Jersey shore. The Rockefeller tree is destined to be used as lumber for Habitat for Humanity.

Some 20,000 trees help create a stretch of dunes, 4-9 feet high, along the mile-long oceanfront in Bradley Beach, NJ

Habitat. The Heron Rookery at Baker’s Lake reuses Christmas Trees as nesting materials.

Illinois: Telephone poles, Christmas trees & 1,300 birds. Photo, Robert Sliwinski

Here’s a state-by-state directory of tree-recycling alternatives.

****   Season’s Greetings to one and all!   ****