Christmas tree rental firms battle waste

Two Vancouver-area firms are hoping to capitalize on the concept of a "green Christmas" by renting out live potted evergreens for the holidays.

For about $100, both firms Carbonsync Christmas in Squamish and Evergrow Christmas Trees in Burnaby will drop off an evergreen at your door and then pick it up at the end of the holiday season.

Christmas trees that are cut down, by comparison, sellfor $25 and up and are usually turned into mulch following the holidays. That's a huge waste, Brad Major of Carbonsync Christmas told CBC News.

"What they're doing now is they're growing these hordes of trees everywhere in the Fraser Valley to ship in to Vancouver," said Major.

"These trees grow anywhere from six to 12 years to be used for one Christmas, and all these trees go to the landfill, and it's this huge pile of trees," he said. "It's like the biggest waste of a resource."

After Christmas, the potted trees will be given to habitat restoration groups for replanting, said Major.

In Burnaby, Evergrow Christmas Treesis new to the potted-tree scene. It wasstarted this year by two forestry graduates from the University of British Columbia, Sean Macalister and Jeff Ferguson.

For Macalister, it's a return of sorts to a family tradition. He remembers Christmas always being celebrated with a live potted tree that was planted in the backyard afterwards.

"This tree can be used over and over and then it gets planted after and it grows into a full-sized tree that will be here when we're dead," Macalister said.

His firm plans toreturn the treesto a nursery to be cared for until they get rented out again, and Macalister envisions families re-using the same treesChristmas after Christmas.