The Living Christmas

One of my most favorite smells is that of a Christmas tree. One year, when I was in intermediate school, I kept a branch of my family's Christmas tree in my room so I could keep smelling it - all the way through June.

Although to be expected during the holiday season, I was pleasantly surprised by the smell of Christmas trees at the local Santa Monica Farmers' Market. Even better yet, these weren't just your traditional Christmas trees. These were the trees from The Living Christmas Co. a local southern California company that, get this, rents live Christmas trees to individuals or families for the holidays. What a simple, yet brilliant idea!

All the trees are grown locally and potted so they continue to grow. Families or individuals pick their tree, have it delivered to their door, enjoy it all season long, and have it picked up after the holiday season so it's returned (still alive!) to the Christmas tree farm. You could even "adopt" a tree and request/reserve the same tree year after year.  Awesome, right?

You might think that these trees must be much more expensive than your traditional tree. Well have no fear, prices are comparable to picking and cutting your own beautiful tree from a Christmas tree farm. Except, your dollars to rent a tree go towards keeping these trees alive and growing. And, once the trees get too big to rent, they're planted and will continue to grow for another hundred years! 

Serve the environment... think about a renting a live Christmas tree!