8
Dec
2009

Eco Christmas Trees

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08 Dec 2009

There’s something about the smell of pine needles that just gets me all festive; which is why I always buy a real Christmas tree.

But recently the eco warrior in me has been feeling a bit uncomfortable about buying this force-grown foliage, which I’ll eventually throw away three weeks later. And the Scrooge in me always feels annoyed that I paid a fortune for some scrawny tree that goes brown and loses all its needles by Christmas Eve.

Which is why I’m so pleased I discovered The Christmas Forest, a properly ethical, environmental and shopper-friendly company. They sell their trees from seven sites in London, including Putney, Islington, Kensal Green and Dulwich and provide great quality trees, while still looking after the environment.

The trees are sourced mainly in the UK (rather than imported from abroad) which reduces the ‘tree miles’; and all their trees are freshly cut, which means they haven’t been sitting in a warehouse for weeks, drying out. They also make an effort to ‘do good’, making a donation to TREE AID for every tree sold, who plant and care for a new tree in their Forests for Food project in Ethiopia. 

I popped along to the Islington site, by The Alwyne Castle pub on St Pauls Road. The staff were friendly and generous with their time, explaining clearly the difference between all the trees and why certain trees cost more than others. You can choose from the Nordmann Fir, Fraser Fir, Noble Fir, Norway Spruce and Blue Spruce. I went for a four foot Noble Fir, well priced at £23 and a gorgeous little tree with big fluffy branches and a really pleasant pine scent.

All the trees were in great condition, many came with their own stand and the sites also sell Christmas lights and wreaths, arrange delivery and provide you with a ‘care of your tree’ leaflet which not only gives you advice on looking after your tree, but also on where to recycle it, and other ways you can have an eco Christmas.

www.christmasforest.co.uk

Also this week…

Living Well loves…ethical gifts from Eco Chic Collection, a company making beautiful Christmas decorations and presents, all of which are ethical, sustainable and Fair Trade.

Image by Sociotard courtesy of Flickr

About Post Author

Emma Mills

Emma quit her full-time, safety-net salaried job as a magazine editor in February of this year to take a terrifying leap in freelance journalism and actually write about something she was interested in. Bored of 9-5 and doing the same old thing every day, she wanted to live to work, not work to live. It was a risky move, but one that paid off and she now works for a number of national and London-based magazines, writing about food, travel, culture, theatre, women's health and education. She can usually be found in North London, because it's way better than 'sarf' London, either working from home or pottering about looking for a cafe with wireless (why aren't there more?). Work distractions include tinkering with her fantasy football team, making banana cake and watching re-runs of The OC.

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