Plastic or real Christmas trees – 

15th December 2025 | Business, Community

What to Buy?

I grew up with an annual real Christmas tree that my mother decorated beautifully, the most amazing sight being when the real candles in their holders were lit and the light bulb turned off, for a magical, fragrant though fairly brief, experience. I can’t imagine anyone taking the chance of a house fire now!

Plastic of “faux tree

But maybe a plastic or ‘faux tree’, probably from China and used for many years, would be less carbon intensive than a live tree. The downside of the plastic trees are that they need to be used for at least 10 years, to offset their carbon footprint but are often used far less often. And they end up in landfill.

Now many farmers are growing live trees. They take 10-12 years to grow and provide a home for birds and insects while at the same time absorbing carbon, very beneficial for us all.  

Or Real?

The British Christmas Tree Growers’ Association (www.bctga.co.uk/) gives good advice about how to care for the trees, preparing them to come indoors.  They also have a list of local farms growing trees in Leicestershire. The trees probably need pesticide use because of the intensive monoculture but if you wanted to buy an organic tree, there aren’t many about. The only organic ones that I found, were in wickedleeks.riverford.co.uk/lifestyle/ethical-christmas-trees-rent-or-go-organic

Renting a tree has become popular, with none of the responsibility of disposing of the tree.  Strangely, leaving trees to rot will cause them to release methane.  www.soilassociation.org/take-action/organic-living/christmas/eco-friendly-christmas-trees-real-vs-fake/ The Soil Association strongly recommends looking for Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) trees (fsc.org/en) because they will have been grown responsibly with minimal use of pesticides, if you can’t find organic local ones. 

In the meantime, very best wishes for an ecofriendly Christmas with minimal harm to our beautiful planet.

Julie Fagan, volunteer, Sustainable Harborough Community and Eco Churches