Christmas Trees
by Dave Marshall on December 7th
Christmas Trees have been an essential part of Christmas for as long as people can remember - believed to date back to Pagan times, with the recognisable modern use of decorated indoor coniferous trees beginning to be used in Germany in the 16th century. Now adopted as an essential part of the festive season and a focal point for any home's Christmas decorating scheme, every year consumers buy around 5.7 million Christmas trees, and 95% of these are grown in the UK.
In recent years there have been some very odd trends on the markets! Last year saw the advent of the upside down Christmas Tree and the previous year saw trendy customers buying black and purple versions to add a chic twist to the traditional green evergreen. Then again, you can always fall back on a very acceptable Christmas Cyclamen Plant.
Increasingly consumers want to know if it is more environmentally friendly to buy a plastic tree, however, there are arguments on both sides. Of the trees bought every year, only a very small number are ever recycled. Increasingly sustainable planting is being used, and with recycling, this significantly reduces the environmental impact of our annual passion. Plastic trees on the other hand can be used for a number of years, however, the industry of plastics is notorious for its wasteful by-products, and the resulting trees are far harder to recycle than organic natural trees. The reusability argument also drops suddenly if fads and trends means that the plastic tree owner ends up replacing their tree every year!
One way around this is for people to consider buying smaller potted coniferous trees which can be used year after year if they are well cared for and kept hydrated when indoors over the festive period. Many retailers now stock these and they combine the best of both worlds!
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