Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas tree. I can not wait to compost thee! Yep, I realize I’m a goof…but I buy a real Christmas tree every year for many reasons.
Reason 1:
It’s a FUN Tradition. My husband and I love the tradition of going to the tree farm, climbing up on the horse and carriage with a bunch of other Christmas tree hunters and going out into the farm to find that perfect tree. I get to pick it out, he gets to chop it down. Then we take the carriage ride back to the farm house where we drink hot chocolate while they bundle it up for us. Oh it was so much fun this year. It even snowed!
Reason 2:
It makes my home feel like Christmas. My parents (and my husband’s parents) always had an artificial tree as we grew up but once we started the tradition of getting a real tree, My husband John and I just fell in love with how it looks in the living room and an artificial one was out of the question from then on. Sure it has a lot of needles to clean up but that’s what vacuum cleaners are for.
Reason 3:
It’s my organic choice. I don’t even know how many synthetics went into making all those artificial trees. They are likely shipped from far away or overseas which increases the carbon footprint too and a thousand years from now they’ll still be sitting in a landfill somewhere while people wonder why we created fake trees in the 21st century while they were so abundant. The tree farm I go to is a replenishable source for my tree so they are planting them just as fast at we cut them down and I don’t have to worry about contributing to deforestation. Oh and it’s local so I don’t drive far to get my tree and my carbon footprint is small.
Reason 4:
Ringer® Compost Plus®
Composting and Firewood: Every year in the spring our tree branches get added to the compost bin and when its just warm enough to spend time outside, my husband chops the larger sections and we sit outside while our chiminea blazing and the wonderful smell of pine filling the air. Adding the “brown” material to my compost bin after months of adding the kitchen scraps over the winter brings my compost bin back into a good balance so my compost will turn into nutrient rich soil during the gardening season. I help it along with Ringer® Compost Plus® which speeds up the process so I can add it to my soil sooner.
