Let’s fake it at Christmas...

We’ve barely entered the summer and already we can hear adverts about Christmas, six months before it actually happens. Talk about planning ahead!

Case in point: Treetopia, the maker of artificial Christmas trees, put its trees on sale on the 4th of July, in an attempt to make a link between the date and their product's eco-friendliness.

It said: “The maximized use of artificial plants not only saves more than a dozen trees over the same amount of years, it also greatly contributes to the lessening of greenhouse gas emissions by not having to be brought down by gas-emitting chainsaws and transported by gas guzzling trucks."

The company mentions a study by the American Christmas Tree Association, which says the "cradle to grave" carbon footprint of artificial trees is significantly lower than that of a real, organic Christmas tree.

While Treetopia uses a quite far-fetched argument to bolster its case ("biomass is not as green as previously thought"), there’s truth in its claim. The fact that artificial Christmas trees can be recycled over and over again makes the case for them quite compelling. And they look quite good too ...

If you can combine them with solar lights, then Christmas time can be a little less taxing on the environment.

Check out my blog about alternative energy. It's updated daily with news and comments.