In many countries, people decorate their houses with Christmas trees. Cosy for happy family and friends meetings. We hope you’re one of the lucky people who can enjoy this. But did you ever consider to see if you can find a pesticide-free tree?
Of course, we don’t eat trees. But wouldn’t Christmas be even happier if your tree was truly pesticide free? The soil in conventional Christmas tree plantations is sprayed with glyphosate in the first three years to kill weeds when the trees are still small. Next, a growth inhibitor is applied to keep the trees compact, while at the same time, artificial fertiliser is applied to make them nice and green. To fight lice and some other insects that could harm the trees are sprayed with insecticides.
Do we need this to grow trees? No, we don’t. It can be done without. During our team retreat we visited a very friendly Belgian organic grower in the Ardennes. He explained to us how he does the mechanical weeding in the first years, prunes the plants that grow too fast and applies compost or other organic matter to help healthy growth. Lice are usually not a problem here, the first can be removed manually and once the ladybirds appear the natural balance is restored and the problem is solved automatically.
Wouldn’t a pesticide free tree grown in a happy habitat be a nice idea to increase your Christmas pleasure? Trees from a grower where the soil and water are not poisoned, where biodiversity has a chance? Where seasonal workers are treated in a nice way, because friendly interaction between people is part of a healthy and natural way of life?
More expensive? Not really. More work yes, so that would justify a fair price. But we found that the two organic Christmas tree growers in Belgium – who export to France and the Netherlands – charge the same price as trees from conventional plantations. You’ll surely find organic growers in other countries. We encourage you to stimulate this approach. For isn’t it a very sad idea that dangerous pesticides are used in forest areas, where many people go to enjoy ‘nature’?
So if you’re planning to buy a Christmas tree you might consider asking your supplier if he or she can deliver an organic pesticide-free tree this or next year.
