Organic Christmas trees are an excellent way to make your holiday celebration more eco-friendly. In addition to being pesticide and chemical-free, organic trees are grown using sustainable agricultural methods, such as crop rotation and natural pest control, which helps preserve soil health and biodiversity.
By purchasing an organic tree, you’ll also be supporting local farmers who are committed to sustainable farming practices. Many organic tree farms offer pick-your-own options, which can be a fun family activity during the holiday season.
To find an organic Christmas tree farm near you, check out the website of the Organic Consumers Association at https://www.organicconsumers.org/news/organic-christmas-trees-where-find-them. This authority source offers a list of certified organic tree farms across the United States, as well as information on how to choose and care for an organic tree.
And when it comes to disposing of your tree, be sure to recycle it in an eco-friendly way. GreenTeam Group can help provide sustainable waste management solutions to ensure your tree is properly composted or mulched.
Grown without pesticides
Organic Christmas trees offer shoppers who wish to avoid pesticides an eco-friendly option this holiday season. You can find these trees online and at local farmers markets.
Crop Life International estimates that 20-40% of potential food production is lost each year to pests.
Pesticides come in all shapes and sizes, from natural compounds such as neem oil to synthetic chemicals like copper sulfate. While many of these pesticides are used organic farming practices, too much exposure may still prove hazardous to health.
When shopping for fruits and vegetables, be sure to find ones tested by the Environmental Working Group (EWG). Their testers perform analyses on samples to measure pesticide contamination of food samples. Furthermore, they publish lists like Dirty Dozen and Clean 15 that indicate which fruit and vegetable varieties contain the highest and lowest amounts of pesticides respectively.
The EWG’s shopper’s guide explains that foods with higher scores (Dirty Dozen) contain higher pesticide residue levels than those with lower scores (Clear 15). Unfortunately, this ranking doesn’t tell us how these chemicals impact health or the amount present in certain food, however.
If you’re concerned about pesticide exposure in your diet, organic fruits and vegetables are often more nutritive than their traditional counterparts and will help you achieve overall better health. They may cost more, but this investment could make a real difference to how healthy your life becomes over time.
Before eating fruits and vegetables, it is a wise practice to wash them carefully in order to eliminate any contaminants left behind by washing or drying. This will also ensure a more hygienic experience!
If you need assistance finding an organic Christmas tree, start your search at your local farmers market or co-op, or check online directories of growers who offer organic Christmas trees.
Grown without fertilizers
fertilizers add fertilizers to soil every farming cycle, altering its quality and hindering plant growth. Fertilizers kill off beneficial microorganisms which provide essential nutrients needed by plants for survival and growth.
Organic fertilizers are natural or biological fertilizers formulated from materials derived from living sources that provide essential nutrients for plant health and wellness, including minerals, fungi, bacteria or plant-derived compounds.
There is an array of organic fertilizers, from fish emulsion and blood meal to composted manure and bonemeal. Their nutritional profile varies widely depending on which ingredients were included in each product, with fish emulsion being richer in nutrient content compared to composted manure or bonemeal products.
Most fertilizers are designed to aid plant growth in specific environments and climates, with organic varieties providing essential nutrition for both roots and leaves.
Fertilizers come in both liquid and granular varieties to meet your gardening needs. You can integrate these fertilizers directly into the soil or specifically target specific areas in the garden for application.
Fertilizers come in various varieties designed to release specific amounts of nutrients over a set period, while others deliver the full dose all at once. Your choice will ultimately depend on results of a soil test as well as what nutrients your garden requires.
Nutrient guarantees are helpful if you’re uncertain which nutrients your soil requires; they show whether the fertilizer contains everything promised.
Nitrogen fertilizers contain one of the most frequently added elements – usually nitrogen in its various forms such as nitrate or ammonium – which plays a vital role in maintaining plant health.
Farmers are now increasingly turning to compost and fungi as sustainable options for fertilizers, both of which may help promote plant health while being better for the environment.
Chemical fertilizers may also be more cost-effective than natural alternatives when measured per pound of nutrients; making nutrient-based alternatives an attractive solution for those on limited budgets or who wish to minimize environmental impact during their growing season.
Grown without chemicals
Christmas trees are an iconic symbol of the season and provide an inviting ambience in any home, but conventionally grown Christmas trees may contain pesticides which are toxic to both people and pets, as well as being a major contributor to air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions when they end up in landfills.
Conventionally grown Christmas trees are typically treated with chemicals such as the herbicide glyphosate, which can absorb into their needles and bark and be released into their planting water, contaminating both humans and pets who come in contact with it, potentially including children playing near it or drinking from it.
Organic Christmas trees offer an effective solution to avoid harmful chemicals and protect the environment, as well as being an ideal option for families with children suffering from allergies or medical conditions that could trigger symptoms.
An ideal place to begin searching for an organic Christmas tree is at a local farmers’ market or garden center, where you can interact with farmers directly about their growing practices, including whether or not they use chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
Certified Naturally Grown or state groups may also help ensure that any tree purchased was grown responsibly without chemical inputs, providing useful guidance on how to purchase sustainable trees. They often operate out of towns where local growers operate and may provide information on purchasing sustainable trees.
Real trees may cost more than their artificial counterparts, but they’re far more environmentally-friendly. Furthermore, real trees help the climate by sequestering carbon dioxide and emitting less greenhouse gas when replanted.
If you opt for a real Christmas tree this year, choose a stand made of recycled materials as it will have less of an environmental impact than using plastic stands.
If it is more convenient, live potted trees from local farms and garden centers may also be purchased and enjoyed throughout the holiday season before being replanted in your garden when no longer suitable as interior decor.
Grown locally
One effective way to reduce your environmental footprint this holiday season is to purchase an organic Christmas tree. Doing so makes an ethical and responsible choice both for yourself and the planet by eliminating harmful pesticides and herbicides from being released into the environment.
Organic Christmas tree farmers have returned to Brooklyn, NY this year to sell their resilient evergreens and wreaths directly to locals at street corners throughout the borough.
Adam Parke of Windswept Farm in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom is an organic Christmas tree farmer with over 15 years of experience who regularly delivers freshly cut evergreens to Brooklyn from his 207-acre herbicide- and pesticide-free farm.
Parke believes avoiding toxic chemicals is necessary to protecting both his farm and those living on his land, including his Christmas trees from herbicides, pesticides and other chemicals that he believes can dry the needles of Christmas trees and alter their looks.
According to the National Christmas Tree Association, selecting a fresh Christmas tree from a nearby tree farm or farmers’ market is the most sustainable way to purchase one. By buying local, jobs will be preserved while shipping costs will be cut significantly–plus trees from these farms sequester significant carbon.
There are also numerous environmentally-friendly ways of recycling a Christmas tree, such as using it as mulch for gardens and backyards or planting it to attract birds and fish to your property.
Some organic Christmas tree farmers also sell related ornaments and decorations. If you want more information on eco-friendly Christmas trees and related products, visit Beyond Pesticides’ webpage on Pesticide-Free Holidays (specifically Christmas) to gain more knowledge.
Try visiting a local Christmas tree farm, giving you the opportunity to interact directly with its farmer about his/her farming methods. While some of these farms may not offer certified organic trees, but will practice more environmentally responsible and chemical-free farming techniques than larger Christmas tree farms.
