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I have wonderful childhood memories of the fragrance of freshly-cut Christmas trees covered with real candles and edible ornaments. I have less wonderful adult memories of trying to remove a dried-out tree from the house, and cleaning up needles.

I didn't approve of artificial trees, so I was a hard sell. Around 1980, when I had small children, I finally gave in and bought one. The mess reduction was impressive. Later, I bought a second tree, and let the children have the original one to do with as they wished. We had a lot of fun with those trees.

I don't have a Christmas tree in my house any more. Instead of a fixed tradition, I have dabbled with various options.

1. Decorating an arrangement of fresh branches.

2. Decorating an existing tree outside.

3. Decorating a potted tree. Some varieties can be planted outside later; others make good house plants and can be decorated year after year.

4. Helping someone else decorate his or her tree.

5. Using a ceramic tree or other reasonable facsimile.

Live Christmas trees are a waste of life. They may have made sense in the "good old days," when taking a young tree from a forest was a minimal invasion, and the tree would be used for fuel afterward. But things have changed since then. Even if Christmas trees are shredded and composted after use, there are surely other crops which would be of more benefit of our society and our environment. Perhaps we need to take a closer look at the whole business of growing plants just to be discarded after a short time. Sustainability is the new buzzword as we face the consequences of human overpopulation and climate change. Changing our Christmas traditions might be a good place to start living within our environmental means.

Learn more about this author, Christine G..
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