Christmas is a joyous time of year we like to celebrate by being festive.
And there’s nothing like the soft glow of a gorgeously decorated Christmas tree to admire in our homes.
But where do we get the tradition of having a Christmas tree in our homes from?
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The use of evergreen plants in the home goes back to ancient times. Hanging them above your doors and windows was believed to ward off nefarious spirits or creatures and even illness.
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Hanging evergreen boughs were also used by Egyptians, Romans, and Celts to symbolize the return of light during winter solstice and celebrate the return of spring and hope for more fruitful times in times of darkness, as well as the triumph of life over death, according to History.com.
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German Christians started decorating trees they brought into their home.
The evergreen tree was a symbol of Christ’s everlasting life and the gift of this everlasting life that he’s given to humanity.
Their trees were decorated with lights to represent Christ as the light of the world and to remind us to shine our light and the holy spirit by loving and helping others as Christ did.
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Some even celebrated Dec. 24, the religious feast day of Adam and Eve, with a tree saying it represented the tree of knowledge of Good and Evil representing the Garden of Eden.
Apples were hung from the tree as well as wafer cookies to represent the eucharistic host, a symbol of redemption.
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Instead of chopping down our own trees and lugging them into our homes, we decide whether to buy one from a local farm (or place that sells Christmas trees) or get a fake one.
There has been debate over which option is better for the environment: cutting down a living tree that gives us oxygen and eats up carbon dioxide and then putting it in a landfill where it emits CO2 or create one from chemicals and plastics that can be harmful to the environment when manufactured and discarded.
🎄🎄Not academia related but I'm way too hyped about this sustainable Xmas gem🎄🎄
London Christmas Tree Rental lets you RENT a tree in a pot. In Jan he goes back to live on a farm (can get the same one back next year).When he reaches 7ft he "retires" & gets planted in a forest. pic.twitter.com/Fnmc1LddEr
— Dr Alexandra Lautarescu (@AleLautarescu) December 5, 2020
Thanks to new innovation and business savvy, you can make an even better choice.
You can now rent a Christmas tree.
Companies will deliver a living potted Christmas tree to your home. They pick it up after Christmas and bring it back to the forest or farm where it came from.
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London Christmas Tree Rental allows you to reserve the same tree for the next Christmas.
Once their trees grow 7 ft tall, they are replanted back in a forest to live out the rest of their lives.
“We explored the rental concept and in our research we learned that 7 million cut trees go into landfills each year and when they rot they emit greenhouse gasses. The average rotting 6ft tree produces 16kg of CO2. When we realized this, we felt we had to try and make this rental idea work,” Chatherine Loveless, co-founder of London Christmas Tree Rental, told Bored Panda.
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They encourage families to have a special relationship with their rented Christmas tree so create a connection with the natural world.
“We encourage the family to give them first names so that they can welcome them into the home each Christmas, on the whole, the trees are very well behaved and make perfect house guests!” Loveless said.
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Their rental trees will run you between $50 to $92. You also put down a $40 deposit that you get back as long as your tree is in good shape when it’s returned.
Their sister company Holly Berry Trees, sells small potted Christmas trees that children can raise themselves, name, care for, and eventually plant when it grows too big.
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“It educates the child from a young age to the importance of the environment and learning to care for something living, whilst wrapped up in a magical Christmas character,” Loveless explains.
California company RentXmasTree.com also rents and delivers trees.
The trees are cared for in their nursery, rented out, but sold once they grow too large and can be planted in a local region. Hopefully, the service will be available in your town soon!
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