Against Felling Trees: Alternatives to the Classic Christmas Tree
Get your Keinachtsbaum®
If you also want to breathe new and sustainable life into an old tradition, then get the last Christmas tree of your life now.
- Height 100-285 cm
- Sustainably grown ash wood, dark oiled
- Modular design – infinitely expandable
- Greenery delivered to your home carbon-neutral or directly from a local producer
Why not a real tree?
"Christmas trees are CO2-neutral," it is always said - because each tree at the end of its life releases only as much CO2 into the atmosphere as it has absorbed over the years. What is forgotten is the CO2 that is produced when Christmas trees are automatically felled and transported. And in times of climate change, every healthy tree that is unnecessarily cut down is one tree too many anyway. In addition, a real Christmas tree also takes effort: you have to lug it into the apartment, fix it upright and wobble-free in the stand (this alone often costs more nerves than all Christmas shopping), and after Christmas, you have to get it out of the house again. "No thanks!" say many Christmas decoration fans.
Alternatives to the felled Christmas tree:
Christmas tree with roots – or rental Christmas tree
Around 12 percent of all Christmas tree buyers choose a Christmas tree with roots (Source: vollveggie.de). Such a tree continues to live after Christmas and is therefore a sustainable Christmas tree; however, it does not require less effort than a felled tree. On the contrary: like a felled tree, it has to be bought and lugged, and while it stands in a pot in the living room, it has to be watered sufficiently. After Christmas, "releasing it into the wild" is on the agenda (which rarely works, by the way).
With rental Christmas trees, both the rewilding at the end and the buying and dragging at the beginning are eliminated, as rental trees are usually delivered and picked up by the provider. However, the need for watering also applies to them. In addition, rental Christmas trees must be handled with kid gloves – under no circumstances should branches break off when decorating.
Artificial Christmas tree made of plastic
An artificial tree made of plastic has a significantly larger ecological footprint than any natural tree: According to studies, the production of a plastic Christmas tree causes about 48 kg of CO2, while the production of a real fir tree causes only a little more than
3 kg. This means that a plastic tree only amortizes in terms of greenhouse gas balance after 15 years at the earliest. However, very few plastic trees are actually used for so long. After 5 years at the latest, they are faded – then they end up in the trash.
Artificial Christmas tree made of wood
Meanwhile, there is a large selection of tree models made of prefabricated wooden components in stores. These trees can be easily dismantled after the holidays, stored in a space-saving manner, and reused next year. And as long as the wood is not burned or does not rot, the CO2 stored in it does not return to the atmosphere.
Artificial Christmas tree made of metal
Not much is known about the eco-balance of metal Christmas trees. At least there is no risk of fumes, and they are – unlike plastic trees – practically eternally durable. However, their appearance takes some getting used to: a shiny metal tree outwardly has not much in common with a real fir tree. But it looks modern and avant-garde.
Self-made Christmas tree
How about the DIY Christmas tree alternative? Anything can serve as building material: fabric, felt, wooden boards, or collected branches from the forest. "Environmentally friendly leftover recycling" is the motto – so you shouldn't buy new building materials specifically. The more often you use the do-it-yourself tree in subsequent years, the better.
Keinachtsbaum®
An excellent Christmas tree alternative is also the Keinachtsbaum®: It is sustainable (as it is reusable), is made of wood - i.e., a renewable raw material - and comes as close visually to a real Christmas tree as hardly any other Christmas tree alternative. Anyone who appreciates traditional Christmas decorations and values a tree but does not want a tree to be felled because of it is doing everything right with the purchase of a Keinachtsbaum®.
Get your Keinachtsbaum®
If you also want to breathe new and sustainable life into an old tradition, then get the last Christmas tree of your life now.
- Height 100-285 cm
- Sustainably grown ash wood, dark oiled
- Modular design – infinitely expandable
- Greenery delivered to your home carbon-neutral or directly from a local producer