How To Green Your Christmas Tree

Fake Trees versus Real Trees: Which is greener?

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How To Green Your Real Christmas Tree

1. Get a living tree.  Living Christmas trees can bring you plenty of holiday cheer and then bring cheer to your outside.  If you're in Portland, OR, consider renting a live tree!  The Original Living Christmas Tree Company provides full-size evergreen trees, along with pick up and delivery services.  And if you're in San Francisco, you can order a living potted tree for $90.  Then after the holidays, SF Environment (in partnership with Friends of the Urban Forest) will pick up the trees and plant them in SF neighborhoods.
2. Recycle your tree.  Earth911 and the National Christmas Tree Association can help you find a Christmas tree recycling program near you.
3. Grow your own Christmas tree.
4. Get a local Christmas tree.  Find Christmas tree farms in California, Illinois, and New York.
5. Get an organic Christmas tree (or one grown on a farm with Integrated Pest Management).

How To Green Your Artificial Christmas Tree

1. Make your own artificial tree.  It might not look like that classic evergreen, but you can make your own tree from any number of recycled materials and give it your own flare every year.  You could make a tree out of soda cans or maybe even spare scraps.
2. Get a wooden tree.  Most artificial trees are made from PVC.  If you're thinking of going artificial, try something a bit different with a wooden version.  Lucky Farm makes handcrafted trees which stand 6 to 8 feet tall.

How To Green Your Decorations

1. Make your own decorations.  Try googling "dough ornaments" for a range of recipes to make your own holiday decorations.  
2. Buy meaningful ornaments.  Rather than buying dozens of ornaments for your first tree, consider buying one ornament each year.  Choose something special that you will look forward to hanging up each year, not something that will eventually never leave the box of decorations.
3. Use LED or solar powered lights for your tree and for any outside decorations.
4. Make a popcorn garland instead of using tinsel.  After the holidays, hang the popcorn outside to feed the birds and save the fishing line to use next year. 
5. Get creative!  Think outside of the ornament box.  For example, what about decorating your tree with photographs of family and friends?  What items do you already have around the house that you can reuse?  What items can you use as decorations that can be used for something else the rest of the year?