The holidays are fast approaching and thinking about this years’ Christmas tree is on everyone’s mind.
“An artificial tree is more ecological than a natural tree that I have to buy back every year!” Well, not quite true! Indeed, although it is reusable, an artificial tree is made of PVC and aluminum, often produced in Asia, and has a very heavy environmental impact. I don’t even think about it!
“So a real beautiful natural tree!” Uh, are you sure it doesn’t come from the other side of the world ? More than half of the Christmas trees sold in Switzerland come from abroad. The ecological cost of this importation is huge too.
– “Okay, but what do I do then?”
Quite simply, you create your own eco-friendly and Zero Waste Christmas tree !
In this article, ZeroWaste Switzerland encourages you not to give in to the sirens of compulsive buying. What if we had a good time with the family creating a beautiful Christmas tree (king of the forests), which the children will be extremely proud to show their friends! Here are some tips to have a Zero Waste Christmas decoration or at least, which comes close to it.
Build your own tree
Is there anything more satisfying than a product that we made ourselves or with our family ? The answer is no. Here are some ideas for you to be efficient without leaving your home :
Old boxes
To avoid having needles everywhere for a month, and as a design alternative to plastic trees, improvise an all-cardboard tree.
Indeed, the cardboard is easy to handle and we can DIY on it, or paint pretty Christmas motifs on it:
2 pieces of cardboard shaped into Christmas trees, nested in one another … Easy to make, and easy to store after the holidays.
A wooden Christmas tree
Do it yourself with pallets or planks that you can pick up in front of the brico-loisirs. Collect old doors and decorative wooden elements, as well as branches from hedge trimming for example.
These Christmas trees are incredibly easy to make. Enough to have a good time with the family and give your environment a little more of the Christmas spirit.
This tree will give character to your interior and shows that there is so much that can be done when you let your creativity speak. You will make people envious!
A pyramid of bookss
An alternative Christmas tree made from books. The idea is simple, it is just a question of stacking the books and adding your personal touch to feed the decoration (lights for example).
You can stack books, one on top of the other for a small tree, or else, mount them in a conical tower, for a maximum size effect. And to give a festive touch you can add garlands and balls.
A new idea that will amaze your guests.
Let your creativity run free!
Once the structure is assembled, we need to decorate it! Little simple trick that will not strain your wallet, collect pine cones during your walks. Indeed, nature offers us free decorations for these holidays. In fact, the association of Swiss forest owners invites the population to glean ornaments from nature rather than buy pine cones, bark and other branches from afar.
But nothing prevents you from combining several of these decorations, or from making several thematic rooms in the house! It’s so beautiful that you will want to keep your decor all winter!
A green plant
The goal here is to simplify your life, reduce the impact and be original, above all! So take a green plant and decorate it as you wish. The green plant will turn into a Christmas tree.
Bea Johnson already gave us a few tricks in 2009.
You will thus avoid the depression linked to the vacuum left by the tree in your living room. Bye-bye old tree, hello pretty plant!
It’s Christmas all year round!
Rent a Christmas tree
Some companies provide rental trees for the various households that request them. Large trees are native to our country. The objective is to reduce the product path as much as possible for ecological reasons. In addition, these companies are also committed to recovering the tree as soon as you no longer need it.
But be careful, you will have to take great care of it: keep it away from radiators, water it regularly so that it has a chance to take root again when it leaves your living room!
And if you want a real and traditional Christmas tree
You will of course have to favour organic and local trees. Look for a Swiss tree! In terms of carbon impact this is what is best, also in terms of pollution. The real organic tree can return to the earth to nourish it and it absorbs CO2 during its growth. For more information, we refer you to the video of En-vert-et-contre-tout which explains the “problem with the tree”.
Obviously, this list is not exhaustive and requires your creativity.