How to Go Green With a Real Tree

Christmas Tree decorating was off the charts in my house on Saturday night. We had a blast! You see, we've had an artificial tree for the entire life span of my 12 year old son. I've always felt like it was my contribution to not wasting the life of a tree, even though there are tree lots all over the United States every year with trees that just become mulch or organic matter of some variety.

But this year we had a new plan. We've always missed the smells of Christmas... pine and holiday spices. So we loaded up on cinnamon scented pine cones (which aren't nearly as pungent in my living room as they were in the store) and a real Noble Fir tree. Our living room smells wonderful!

What makes it even more exciting is we seemed to have found the most perfectly shaped tree on earth! It had just arrived from Oregon with melted snow still dripping from it. We were told it was loaded up during a blizzard. True or false it helped to make the sale! It was unwrapped while we watched, we gave it a twirl and made it our own.

So, how is buying a real tree going green, you ask? Let me tell you... Hubby stocked up on beautiful LED lights that we bedazzled our Noble with. You can run so many strands together on one plug and leave them all on for days and not even touch the amount of electricity that traditional Christmas lights use. They also don't get hot and are very break resistant. We are saving a ton in electricity this year and reducing our carbon footprint at the same time. How do you like those apples, Mr. Gore?

And, when it comes time to retire our beautiful Noble Fir as the season winds down I will do my best to make sure that it becomes mulch or a recycled product of some sort so that it doesn't just end up in a land fill. But, even if it does goes straight to the dump, it will help provide the other refuse with organic matter for decomposition purposes.

That's my story and I'm sticking with it! Happy Holiday!