Christmas tree recycling: Why not lease your tree instead?

The horticultural and forestry world has been busy over recent years innovating around Christmas trees.  It’s not just the introduction of new species of tree like the Scot’s pine or the Noble fir instead of the more traditional Norway spruce, it’s also the life cycle management of the trees.

Driving past a business close to Genus headquarters on the A417 the other day, I realised that you can hire a Christmas tree for the festive period, enjoy it for the holiday, and then return it to the grower.  This ultimate in Christmas tree recycling, is inspired by the new business concept designed to reduce waste called the “service leasing model”.  Promoted by organisations such as WRAP (a UK organisation supporting the reduction of waste in business and manufacturing), this new business model is based on the concept of using rather than owning.  It extends from using products such as clothes including the lease of jeans (see Mud Jeans based in the Netherlands), to home furniture, and even to the hire of light bulbs.

Brilliant! We just love this kind of new thinking.