Cumbria’s first Christmas tree rental farm lets people keep a real tree for years – all while helping save the environment.
Lake District Eco Christmas Trees is a new online service that allows customers to rent, return and reuse their trees year in, year out, in a bid to reduce the seven million trees going to landfill each year.
Trees available to rent start out at a height of three foot and are able to be kept in homes for three weeks over the Christmas period.
Once the tree is brought back to the farm, it is then looked after until the following year, when at a foot taller, it becomes available to rent again. The trees can be reserved by the original renters for years until it reaches seven feet, when it is then retired to a forest on the farm in Troutbeck, near Penrith.
Owner Chris Simmons, 30, said: “The idea came about because we saw a field of Christmas trees and thought it was such a waste because they’re going to be cut down, go into somebody’s house for three weeks and then go to landfill. Seeing that field planted the seed and it was stuck in my mind – I kept thinking there’s got to be a better way to do that.
“As time went on I thought actually, you could have the trees in pots in your home and this might be something that works. If we can stop fields worth of Christmas trees being cut down just for a few weeks of enjoyment then we should do that, especially in the world we’re living in now. So we’ve ended up at this point thinking about trying to find a solution that saves all that waste.”
While the idea for the farm started three years ago, both Chris and his wife Rachel spent a lot of time researching and making plans to set up the business before the growing even began.
After selling a few trees last year in a soft launch of the business, this year marks the official launch of the business now that 100 of their 600 trees are tall enough and ready to be used. People can only reserve trees online.
He added that the public response to reserving the trees ahead of the festive period has already proved to be a success and that they expect to sell out before Christmas.
He said: “The response has been beyond expectations for the first two weeks of November, not many families are even thinking about live trees right now, but people are reserving them and it’s very exciting.
“We’ve got a lot of three foot trees so for example a family could get a small tree and then get that specific tree back for next year. By doing that they can see the tree growing and thriving in their own living room. I wasn’t sure if people who have had a six foot tree all their lives would be willing to go to a three foot tree, but they have been so far and those people will be able to cut down the amount of trees chopped down for their Christmas’ over the years to come.”
A deposit of £20 is used to secure a Christmas tree and customers can choose what height tree they would like from an online order form. They can then arrange to pick up their tree from the farm or have it delivered to their home in time for the festive period.
The £20 fee is then refunded once the tree is safely returned in a healthy state back to the farm. Chris added that taking care of the trees was simple and that they needed only 500ml of water a day and to be kept away from heat sources.
Inspired by David Attenborough, Chris also came up with their one for one pledge, meaning that for every tree rented from the farm, another one is planted.
He said: “You wouldn’t want to randomly cut down a normal full-sized tree thinking about the ecological impact and all the bugs, birds and bees using the forest, so why would we think it’s okay to do that with a six feet Christmas tree?
“In the future, I hope we can make a dent in the county and the North of England’s Christmas tree waste. If we can turn that around with our sustainable Christmas trees then I think that’s a really good impact, it’s all for the greater good and fully focused on our environmental impact.”
Those reserving their trees in November are able to get a 22 per cent discount on the full price of their tree.
