Finding the Perfect Christmas Tree

For the past twenty-four years, my family and I have always had a real Christmas tree in our home, it is a tradition that I cherish and hope to pass along to my children one day. Some of my earliest memories are of my dad and I searching tree lot after tree lot for our perfect tree!  Over the past few years, my dad has opened his own tree lot, selling hundreds of beautiful locally grown trees from the South Shore of Nova Scotia, so you could say Christmas Trees are a big deal in our family!

The Importance of Real Tree's:

There is a false assumption that cutting down trees for a few weeks of festivity is harmful for the environment,  while everyone is entitled to their own opinions, I am certainly not here to judge you for your tree choice, but instead I am working with the Christmas Tree Council of Nova Scotia to share a few facts to break that negative assumption!

-Real Christmas trees are grown on farms all over the country, taking up to 15 years to reach harvestable size. During that time, these trees are improving our air quality by emitting oxygen, all while providing a habitat for wildlife.

-The Christmas Tree Industry provides thousands of jobs for farmers across our Country!

-Real Christmas trees are recycled as green waste, some communities collect and recycle the trees into mulch, using them as erosion barriers, or sinking them in ponds for fish habitat.

Now, I can see the convenience of an artificial tree, but that convenience comes with a significant  environmental cost. Artificial trees are made from materials such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and metal. Because they cannot be recycled, artificial trees end up in landfills when they are no longer useful.

Some Fun Facts about Christmas Tree's:

- During the 17th and 18th centuries it was common for people to hang Christmas Trees upside down from the ceiling (seen in recent years as a popular trend).

- Early Christmas Trees were decorated with cakes, cookies, pretzels, nuts and fruit.

-According to the Guinness World Records, the world's tallest Christmas tree was a 67.36m tall Douglas fir decorated and put on display in Seattle, Washington in 1950. That's nearly as tall as a 20-storey apartment building.

- Local Fact: Since 1971 a Christmas tree has been given to the city of Boston from the people of Nova Scotia as a thank you for their assistance after the 1917 Halifax Explosion.

Shop Local:

If you are local and looking for your Christmas tree for this season, visit the Nova Scotia Choose & Cut retail listings at iLoveRealTrees.com