The dilemma of the Christmas tree is one we faced this year and have yet to really decide what to do. Artificial Christmas trees are one of the most toxic things you can bring into your home. They are coated in fire retardant which off gases something horrible! Most are made of PVC which is another terrible thing to bring in doors. A great article from Ecotality Life further discusses the pro's and con's of artificial vs real.
Listed in that article is a link to an Ontario Christmas tree farm that has some wonderful Treecycling Ideas.
So this year we attempted to sell our 4' Artificial tree but no luck. Maybe better planning for next year will work better. We ended up purchasing a real tree from our local feed store. And I intend to utilize that tree for many things. One the branches make great bedding in the chicken coop. Also the stump will work well as a hanging suet holder. There is some discussion between my parents and I about jointly purchasing a shredder/grinder. Something that can handle up to 2' branch sizes would work well for the both of us. Not only for the Christmas tree shredding but for other tree pruning as well.
I will do some research into a live tree that gets brought in doors for Christmas, but I don't want to shock the poor thing to death.
The jury is still out as to what we will do next year. If we get a grinder we will probably go with a real tree again. I don't feel bad in cutting it down if every last bit of it gets used. For mulch, bedding, or what ever. As long as people are not trashing the perfectly good tree, many places accept trees for free or for a small fee.
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