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adopt a christmas tree!
Posted by Alicia Silverstone on Dec 10, 2009

Kind Life member Emily W posted this note in the forums, and I wanted everyone to see it!

“For those of you in the San Diego area here is a great idea!!

If you want to have a Christmas tree during the holidays, but can't figure out if fake or cut is better (the research I've found shows both are pretty bad) here is a wonderful option -- www.AdoptAChristmasTree.com

They have dancing elves deliver a LIVE Christmas tree to your door, you decorate it and care for it during the season, then after they holidays they pick it up and plant it in a good spot. Unfortunately, this specific service is only in San Diego, but it sounds like similar projects are popping up elsewhere like San Francisco and Portland. Next year, every major city should have a program like this :)

I'm getting mine delivered this weekend and am SOOO excited to see an organization like this!!”

Yay Emily! I love that we can help to make the holidays more green.  Check out this video about www.AdoptAChristmasTree.com, there are lots of tips on how to make your holidays a little more kind.

Any of you who end up adopting Christmas trees, I’d love to see pictures and hear about it! And let me know if you find a service like this in your city!

And stay tuned, because we will have more info on fresh cut trees and other green alternatives soon....

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  • Categories: holidays , san diego
my family buys a live christmas tree in a pot. we decorate it for the holidays, and then care for it all winter. when the ground unfreezes, we plant it in our yard. it's been a tradition for a while now, and it's fun to see the past xmas trees in varying sizes.
That is wonderful. It makes a person wish they live in San Diego.. I am about 4 hours away. smiley-laughing.gif

For the last couple years I have been sending plantable cards. For all celebrations and holidays. They are affordable and contain a variety of flower and plant options. This year for Christmas I sent plantable cards that grow White Spruce seeds. They can be a little pricey, but it is an incredible gift that can be enjoyed for a life time! (They are 100% eco friendly)

There are a lot of places that you can find plantable cards but my personal favorite is: http://www.botanicalpaperworks.com/ 

My husband and I are in the process of adopting a baby girl.  While the intention behind this is great, I want to bring it to everyone's attention that when the word "adopt" is used for things like this, it dimishes the word.  I read in Adoptive Families magazine for example that one parent wrote a letter to the Oakland Zoo and successfully got them to change the name of their program to "Sponosr an Animal" instead, explaining how language is so important:  "Such cavalier use of the word adoption suggests particularly to children, who make up a sizable portion of your visitors that adoption is a short-term commitment of money to a cause, not a lifelong commitment of parents to children."
We too buy a real tree every year - it costs very nearly what a 'cut' tree costs and we plant it in the yard in the spring. It it a good feeling to see the line of trees grow every year. We live in the country, but what a great idea for city folks to know they are contributing to the greening of their city!

Has anyone heard of  a bill in Congress to ban organic farming?

Such a great idea!  Wish they had this every where!
hey kinders...if you have a yard or a patio, another idea is to buy a tree, pot it and roll it in and out every year. 
get a native tree (ours is a colorado blue spruce, we are in portland, or),
put it in a plastic pot (might not the best, but terra cotta is really heavy and doesn't contain moisture as well),
put styrofoam peanuts in a bag in the bottom (recycling!),
fill it with vermiculite, peatmoss and blended compost (not potting soil)
and pot it. 
the pot will stunt it's growth a bit.  after a few  years, plant it somewhere!   i was a child that would weep when my mom threw the tree out on the roadside.  it seemed so rude!  now, our tree is like a member of the family, like a prized rosebush or an herb garden.  i really love it.   i have more details on my blog. (my blog is a personal diary thing, not really interesting at all except to my family, but there is a post on my xmas tree there if you would like it)  or you can email questions.  i did so much research on this, i'm happy to help.   happy new year!
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