Every December the same question comes up: is a real tree better for the planet, or an artificial one you can reuse? There is a third option that more and more people are choosing, a tree made of wood that comes back out of its box every year. Here is an honest look at all three, over the ten Christmases a typical family might use them.
The cut tree
A real fir or spruce smells wonderful and feels like Christmas. It is also a crop: it is grown for many years, cut, transported, kept in your living room for a few weeks and then thrown away. Over ten years that means ten trees, ten trips to buy one and ten trees to get rid of in January.
The good: it is natural and, if it comes from a local grower and is composted or collected by your town afterwards, its footprint can be modest.
The less good: it needs watering, it drops needles everywhere, it can be tipped over by pets and children, and every year you start again from scratch.
The artificial tree
A plastic tree is bought once and reused, which sounds like the greener choice. The catch is what it is made of. Most artificial trees are made of plastic and metal, are produced far away and shipped long distances, and are very hard to recycle when they wear out. To be the better option, an artificial tree has to be kept for many years, and many are replaced long before that because they look tired or no longer fit the room.
The good: no needles, no watering, the same tree every year.
The less good: plastic, difficult to recycle, bulky to store, and it is still pretending to be something it is not.
The wooden tree
A wooden tree takes the best of both: it is made of a natural material, and you buy it once. YELKA is made from oak, walnut or maple grown in sustainably managed Slovenian forests. The branches are finished with natural linseed oil, and the stand is powder-coated steel, the most environmentally friendly kind of coating and tougher than ordinary paint. After Christmas it comes apart easily and goes back, flat, into the cardboard box it arrived in.
The good: natural materials, made to last for many years, no water, no needles, stores flat, and it is stable enough that pets and kids can't knock it over.
The less good: it doesn't smell like a forest. (Although several of our customers tell us the oiled wood has a lovely warm scent of its own.)
Ten Christmases, side by side
- Cut tree: ten trees bought, carried home and disposed of.
- Artificial tree: one tree, if it lasts that long, made of materials that are hard to recycle.
- Wooden tree: one tree of natural wood, stored flat between seasons, still going strong.
So which should you choose?
If you love the ritual of choosing a fresh tree and can buy it locally and compost it, a real tree is a fine choice. If you want a tree you buy once and keep, choose one made of a material that ages well and that you'll be happy to look at for many years. That is exactly why we made YELKA: a tree you don't throw away, that doesn't shed, and that looks good in a modern home.
One of our customers put it well: she said YELKA is the perfect solution for anyone who doesn't want to buy and then throw away a live tree every year.
Find your YELKA
- Small YELKA, 75 cm, for a sideboard, desk or shop counter
- Medium YELKA, 100 cm, a compact floor tree
- Large YELKA, 150 cm, our most popular size
- Extra Large YELKA, 187 cm, in solid oak or walnut