I am grudgingly being pulled out of my “Xmas denial hole” and I am more than certain over the coming weeks going to blog about having a green christmas.  But rather than start with a vast long rant on the big environmental impact of consumerism, packaging, numerous unneccessary Xmas cards, etc I am going to start on an less anger inducing issue - the Christmas tree! 

I suppose the first question is real or fake?  In my opinion real wins hands down (in most cases, just a little disclaimer there!!).  The production of a plastic tree is not good from an environmental perspective as it traditionally made of steel, PVC and other nasty plastics.  Yes you may use it more than once - but at the end of the day it is going to more than likely end up in landfill.  How long an artificial tree lasts is also questionable?  Will you get fed up of a cheap looking tatty tree after it has been shoved away in the loft for year on year.  Added to this most trees are produced in China in less than perfect conditions and then we need to add on the environmental impact of the shipping/transportation.

SO there we go!! Keep it real!!  A real tree when growing plays an important role in reducing CO2 emissions.  However it is wise to look where your tree is coming from.  Where possible choose FSC plantations and/or check the Soil Associations website for approved growers.  We do not want trees that are not sustainably produced or have been subjected to chemical fertilisers and pesticides.

The other alternative is to literally keep it REAL by purchasing a living potted tree that you can use the following year.  This is what we did last year and the tree is outside in our porch waiting for another Xmas outing!

There are of course other more eco-friendly christmas tree options such as don’t have one, use a different existic plant, a recycled christmas tree made of paper.  I will maybe build on this in a later post.  In the meantime please share your ideas.

Hi all,
I have just finished reading a Diary of an Eco-builder by Will Anderson which I took out of the library the other week. The book follows Will (and his team) as they turn a very small plot in the centre of London into what in my eyes looks a very contemporary eco home, modelled around the tree that dominates the plot.

Although my home is very far removed from Will’s in the centre of London, I found the book relevant, thought provoking and also informative. Maybe some of the elements are beyond my reach (after all the build cost hundreds of thousands!!) but the measures that he details can be done on a smaller budget and the payback makes it worthwhile.

I found the ‘resources’ box at the end of each chapter/diary entry very useful and will go through the book again tonight and make notes of all the websites to visit. For this alone it is worth taking the book out - these are not detailed on their website.

I would encourage you to have a look at their website:

Clapham Treehouse

You can also find the book at Amazon: Diary of an Eco-builder

Following some recent reports on the internet I feel the need to air a few views on the “bamboo – good or bad” issue.  Bamboo products – floors, furniture, clothing, textiles – have certainly grown in popularity over the last few years, largely on the back of their perceived environmental/green image.  But do the products actually live up to this reputation?  I decided that I would look into this issue a bit further, looking first at bamboo as a flooring method.

Obviously when compared to hardwood options bamboo scores highly as a sustainable resource.  Maturity occurs in the order of 5 years in comparison to the 20+ years taken for hardwood.  This results in a much higher yield per hectare. The physical properties of bamboo – strength, flexibility, versatility – make it a very viable alternative to timber and metal.

Bamboo also plays a very important role in removing CO2 from the atmosphere and at a higher rate than alternative trees.  This is done through the process of sequestration (storage in a physical form) of carbon dioxide.  It also is grown largely without the need for fertilisers. 

Well all positive so far.  It does perhaps get complicated when we start to look at the manufacturing/processing side and more specifically the glue used in the process.  I do accept that this may not be the most ecologically responsible method and this is certainly one of the main concerns often cited.  However I would argue that when compared to the environmental impacts of alternative wood based products these concerns pale into insignificance.

One of the other issues is the transportation problems due to the fact that the vast majority of bamboo is produced in China and the requirement to ship it all around the world to the US and Europe especially.

However, all this aside we may need to accept that all resources have some negative impacts, it is just the degree of impact that we need to be concerned with.  Personally I am happy with my choice of bamboo for the floor in the living room – it looks great too!

Any views on this?