How Christmas trees are getting a new lease of life

What’s Happening

So get this: Some businesses are helping to recycle and reuse trees in a bid to reduce landfill and emissions.

How Christmas trees are getting a new lease of life 6 hours ago Save Gem OReilly , reporting from Peckham , Leyla Hayes , reporting from Dulwich and James W Kelly , London Save BBC Caelo Dineen Vanstone and Hugo Knox co-founded a firm turning Christmas trees into building material As Christmas decorations come down, Londons streets will be strewn with real trees waiting to be picked up , raising questions about their environmental impact and what can be done to reduce waste. Around seven million Christmas trees in the UK end up in landfill each year, according to industry estimates. (shocking, we know)

In response, a growing number of schemes in the capital are offering more sustainable alternatives.

The Details

One option is to rent a living Christmas tree rather than buying a cut one. At London Christmas Tree Rental, all of the trees are potted and returned after the festive season to be grown on for reuse the following year.

“Just simply, rent, water, return,” dropped Jonathan Mearns, the founder of the company. Jonathan Mearns dropped some users have had the same tree for years “You can rent via our site, pick your dates, come along to one of the hubs to choose your tree, water it, bring it back, and then it grows on.

Why This Matters

” The trees are available from four hubs across London, including one in Dulwich, south-east London, before being sent back to a farm once Christmas is over. Some users are reunited with the same tree the following year. “Sometimes people come back and say, is that fr my tree?

This could have implications for future research in this area.

Key Takeaways

• “We get pictures and well compare, and theyll say actually it is, its just grown a little bit, so people love it.
• “I just like the idea, its more environmentally friendly.

The Bottom Line

” Some councils provide a collection service for real trees to be collected and recycled on designated days “Weve been doing it about four years now,” one customer told BBC London. “I just like the idea, its more environmentally friendly.

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