Fresh Christmas Wreaths are Better for the Environment!

Here at Club Botanic we know and celebrate the fact that consumers today care about the environment, and take the time to consider the consequences of their purchases. More than ever, people seek to purchase products that use renewable resources. During the holidays, more consumers are choosing to buy fresh instead of artificial than ever in recent cultural history.

We think it's important to remember that artificial wreaths are made from plastics and other petroleum-based products. Yes, petroleum. If this was not motivation enough to actually go green, we've got more unfortunate news: Artificial wreaths are made in China where demand for petroleum is increasing by 25% a year as more citizens are able to purchase cars. Here, we see a three-fold waste of petroleum. It's used to make the plastic for artificial wreaths, still more petroleum fuels the container ships that bring them to the U.S., and finally they are loaded onto trucks, which use petroleum, to fan out over the country and deliver them to brick and mortar stores. 

So why did people ever buy them in the first place? The most common reason given for purchasing artificial wreaths is their apparent "life span", 9 or 10 years. Most people don't keep them that long and they inevitably end up at the landfill where they will stay for 5000 years or more to degrade.

Live Christmas wreaths have many environmental benefits! They're recyclable if you take the wires and rings off! Many communities have recycling programs in place during the holiday season to pick up your Christmas trees and wreaths. The boughs and cuttings can be chipped and made into mulch. Christmas wreaths are often kept on doors far past the holiday season, so consider your timing and take advantage of recycling opportunities, unless you are already a gardener with your own composter.

Real Christmas wreaths are more of a renewable resource than even real Christmas trees! Why? The trees are not cut down to harvest the branches used for Christmas wreaths. Instead, about 12 to 18 inches of the branches are cut off, or "tipped" as growers say, which is like pruning a shrub. The branches continue to grow year after year. Christmas tree farms typically plant 3 trees for each one cut, but they are still cut down. 

At Club Botanic we get our greens from California and the Pacific Northwest. Over 50% of the land in the Pacific Northwest is forest, and it is home to the densent biomass - the total mass of organisms living within a given area - in the country. Forest health is critical in the fight against global warming - trees take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and release oxygen. On the other hand, burning fossil fuels to produce plastics adds carbon dioxide to the atmosphere contributing to global warming. 

We urge you to think carefully about the environment when you select a Christmas wreath! Club Botanic wreaths, like all authentic wreaths, are recyclable, renewable, and help support the Earth's ecosystem! Choose one, and enjoy your holidays, beautifully!