All I want for Christmas is a recycled green bottle
December 4th, 2009 by trinatuneChristmas is upon us and my faithful Wollemi Pine, which doubles as a Chrissie tree, has died.
Not only have I spent the past week mourning my favourite tree but I’ve also been trying to think of an alternative one for Christmas. I am not really one for buying a new pine tree every year and I really didn’t want to buy a plastic one. I have bought a few living potted trees in the past but they have all died on me, despite my repotting efforts - so I didn’t want to do that again either.
Luckily, and I really mean luckily, my husband came home the other day with one from his office that they had used last year and were going to throw out. It is plastic but I figure it is being recycled, reused and rehomed at our place now. My kids have decorated it already, and are awaiting presents.
So dilemma over.
What sort of Christmas tree do you have? Have you got any good ideas for eco trees? I love this recycled plastic bottle Christmas tree in Paris. What an awesome idea. Creating something like this would take me years because I don’t drink many things in green plastic bottles. I guess it could be an ongoing project.
Our Wollemi Pine that we used as a Christmas tree is more or less dead also. I’ve heard of a few people now who’s loved Wollemi Pine has died. Part of me is a little sad, but the other part of me sees it as a little victory for threatened plants - reminding us that the only way we can truly save threatened species is to conserve their habitat. There is so much coplexity in nature that we can never hope to mimic it.
Enjoy our new old recycled tree
Pretty much every tree I’ve tried to grow in a pot has died. One year I used a big leafy rainforest tree in a pot as a Christmas tree but there was no-where to hang the decorations. A couple of years ago we bought a plastic one and I just tell myself that as long as we use it for the next hundred thousand years or so, passing it from generation to generation it’ll be ok
Hey Trina,
nice to hear from someone who shares the Christmas tree problem. We’ve got it for years. But at this point I’ve got a nice tip for you. There is a website plantthis.com.au with a tool called plant selector. It matches your personal climate and soil conditions with suitable plants. I bought a new tree using this website and it survived so far. You may have a look with that one as well. There are some quite useful videos too.
Have nice Christmas days!
Christmas bush is a pretty good alternative…native plant that has grown well for me in pots.
When I lived in a place with a lot more room than I now have, I bought a small native tree every year at christmas and then would plant it out in the garden after christmas was over. Some of them looked like “christmas trees”, and some not, but with a few decorations, they all passed muster. Every one of them grew and it was lovely to walk around the garden saying - “oh this was christmas of 1989, 1990 etc.” It showed the passage of time and served to fill in my garden.