I hate Christmas trees with passion.

Imagine growing a seedling for many years in a monoculture, just for it to get cut down and used as a dumb decoration.

And it even isn’t the “cool” type of dumb decoration. You buy it, you get stung all the time while transporting it, you’ll have needles lying around all over your apartment, it’s a fire hazard, and after not even a few days or weeks you’ll have to throw it out, which is also super annoying too.

Even worse are those ridiculous plastic Christmas trees. Don’t even get me started on these ones!

Solution

Get a (big) houseplant instead!

There are many options for you out there.

You can hang your ornamentals on them and enjoy your own “Christmas tree” all year around without any guilt.

Even better, you even aren’t bound to any season. For example, why not hang easter eggs on there in the spring?

Bonus idea!

You can blow out and then colour your eggs, then scrape nice patterns in the shell with a sharp knife. This way, you can prevent plastic use and even have a nice gift!

(Picture taken from Pinterest)

Ideas

If you don’t have pets, a Monstera might be great for you.

Those are very common and super easy to propagate via cuttings. Just ask your friends or neighbours if you can get one for free :)

Indoor trees, like lemon or avocado trees for example, are a great option if you don’t want to spend a single cent and grow them from seed, which is what I’m doing at the moment.

You can also decorate smaller plants, like a Pothos for example.

Decorating your own bonsai would also be an eyecatcher ;)

There are literally endless options out there for you to explore!

  • GregorGizeh@lemmy.zip
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    12 days ago

    A decent compromise available here in Germany is to rent a small tree, with roots and everything, that will go back into the ground after the holidays. When I was a kid we also never bought the chopped ones, usually a smaller tree with roots as well that we would plant in our garden afterwards.

  • ProfessorPeregrine@reddthat.com
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    12 days ago

    Great idea! We are lucky in that we go hunting trees on my mom’s property, which really needs to be thinned out for fire mitigation. They don’t look like lot trees- they have more character so each year’s tree is unique.

  • shalafi@lemmy.world
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    13 days ago

    Using a fake tree we found on the side of the road. Perfect size!

    Also, learn to maintain a poinsettia or a Christmas cactus. (You probably don’t have enough light inside for the former.)

  • henfredemars
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    13 days ago

    I admire your passion on the subject. My parents always had a real Christmas tree. It seemed like such a hassle to me and a strange thing to do.

  • faythofdragons@slrpnk.net
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    12 days ago

    Rosemary is also a decent option if you want something that looks more like a christmas tree, but tabletop size

  • Evotech@lemmy.world
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    13 days ago

    My mom decorates one of her floor lamps every year.

    I bought a plastic one tbh. My wife never had any Christmas cheer growing up and she really wants to now :) couldn’t really take it away from her

  • jplatte@discuss.tchncs.de
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    13 days ago

    We’ve been doing this for a few years too! However, the plants we have are not super well suited for it ^^

    I love the second picture… We have a very similar plant with very thick stalks in the attic now and are moving soon, maybe should have it in the living room in the new place for decorating!