By Jodie, Good Energy
 

 The build-up to Christmas is now in full swing. I’ve bought my Christmas cards – inspired by Sophy’s Christmas card blog – and now I’m turning my attention to the Christmas tree. I know that the most hardened environmentalist would go for no Christmas tree at all, but old festive habits die hard and luckily there are some eco-friendly options available to those of us who can’t quite break with our Christmas tradition.  

By far the best Christmas tree is one from your own garden. You may not yet have a selection to choose from, but if you plan well now, next year you’ll have a very local, organic fir tree to decorate! 
 

Buy a local, organically grown tree with roots so you can keep it after it’s fulfilled its festive duty and nurture it for Christmas 2010. Look for trees that are FSC-approved (to ensure that the forests they’ve come from are sustainably managed) and check out your local farmers, as they often have trees for sale and you can investigate how they grow them. If you want to use your tree again next year the best option is to keep it potted outside.
 

Otherwise, replant it. If you’re not especially green-fingered don’t worry too much – even my Dad managed to grow a line of fir trees in our back garden – and the BBC has some good tips on looking after your tree.
 

If you’re buying a cut tree, again make sure it’s FSC-approved, local and organically grown if possible, and remember to plan for its disposal. If you can’t compost it at home, lots of local authorities offer a garden waste collection service and have household recycling centres where you can drop your tree off for mulching – check out your local council website for details.
 

If you’re really not up for replanting or recycling, why not leave the work to someone else and rent a Christmas tree? The Christmas Tree Man  will deliver your chosen tree anywhere in England and Wales (using a green courier service where possible), and will replant it after Christmas. You can even label it so you can get the same one next year!

Do all you can to avoid a pretend tree. Though many try to claim that plastic trees are an eco-alternative because they’re reusable, most people only use them a few times before dumping them for a nicer-looking new one. The old ‘trees’, after probably having been made and shipped from abroad anyway, go straight into landfill.
 

Finally, don’t let your decorations let your carefully-chosen tree down. The Good Energy Shop has some brilliant solar-powered fairy lights which have been tried and tested by our team. There are also loads of websites out there with great advice on recycled and eco-friendly tree decorations, including The Guardian.

Green Energy Republic