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As Londoners dismantle their Christmas decorations, the city’s streets will soon be lined with discarded real trees awaiting collection by municipal services, prompting considerations about their environmental footprint and strategies for waste reduction.
Industry estimates suggest that approximately seven million Christmas trees in the UK are disposed of in landfills annually.
In response to this environmental concern, a growing number of initiatives in London are providing more ecologically sound alternatives.
One such option is renting a living Christmas tree as opposed to purchasing a cut one.
London Christmas Tree Rental provides potted trees that are returned after the holiday season for continued growth and reuse in subsequent years.
“It’s a simple process: rent, water, return,” explains Jonathan Mearns, the company’s founder.
“Customers can rent via our website, select their preferred dates, visit one of our hubs to choose their tree, maintain it with water, and then return it for further growth.”
The trees are available from four locations across London, including one in Dulwich, south-east London, before being transported back to a farm after Christmas.
Some patrons have even been reunited with the same tree in subsequent years.
“Sometimes people return and inquire, ‘Is that really my tree?'” Mearns recounts.
“We’ll compare pictures, and they often confirm that it is, indeed, the same tree, just slightly larger, which customers appreciate.”
“We’ve been doing it for about four years now,” a customer shared with BBC London.
“I simply appreciate the concept; it’s more environmentally conscious.”
Another initiative in Peckham, south-east London, focuses on repurposing trees after the festive season.
The ORNA Group is dedicated to transforming discarded Christmas trees into construction materials.
Hugo Knox, a co-founder of the group, explained that the idea stemmed from direct experience in selling real trees.
“In November 2019, I left my first job after university,” he said.
“I called up a close friend, Max, and suggested, ‘It’s Christmas, let’s try selling Christmas trees.'”
He stated that the pair initially offered trees and installations door-to-door in Camberwell before expanding the concept into a seasonal business.
“Through that experience, I learned a lot about Christmas tree waste and witnessed the extent of it firsthand on the streets of London, which ultimately led to the creation of ORNA Group,” he explained.
According to the Carbon Trust, the environmental impact of discarded trees can be substantial.
They state that, on average, a real Christmas tree generates approximately 3.5kg of carbon dioxide emissions. However, a 2m tree sent to landfill without its roots can have a carbon footprint of 16kg.
The trust notes that an artificial tree used over several years results in lower overall emissions.
Most London boroughs offer recycling schemes for trees to reduce landfill waste. Information on local council schemes can be found at London Recycles.
At the ORNA workshop, real trees collected from homes and businesses are chipped and combined with natural binders to create new materials.
“When it arrives here, it’s mostly unprocessed,” says material scientist Caelo Dineen Vanstone, another co-founder of the start-up.
“The trees come directly from homes or businesses in various forms, but they arrive here chipped to the appropriate consistency.”
She explained that the process involves cooking and modifying natural ingredients before combining them with the tree waste “to create a homogenous wet material.”
The project also engages with young people to demonstrate how small actions can have a significant impact.
“We’re not aiming to transform the world overnight,” Dineen Vanstone stated.
“But it’s about making our local community a little better and taking positive action rather than contributing to negative consequences for future generations.”
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