Over 8 million real Christmas trees are bought each year, and discarded a few weeks later. Not only that, but to collect these trees for landfill costs a shocking £14 million every year! In addition, every 2m tree that is discarded has the same carbon footprint as 3 return flights to London! So instead of seeing out another year with streets lined with dead or dying trees for weeks after Christmas, I wanted to see if I could do something different this year. 

When I started looking into it I found out about the hire a Christmas tree scheme! A number of years ago, Glasgow and parts of England saw local farms and garden centres introducing a hire scheme where Christmas trees are delivered to your door in their own wee pots and then collected when you are finished with them. The trees are then replanted in the ground, and this process can be repeated for up to 12-13 years! 

Personally, I absolutely love this idea and it has so many benefits. This year I really wanted to do this, but with the closest available farms being in Glasgow, it was too far away. So next year I’d like to see more options like this available in Edinburgh and other major cities. Help this petition reach major Christmas tree retailers to encourage them to introduce this scheme in the future!