I simply couldn’t let this one go: “Can you decorate your [Christmas tree] without getting pesticide residue in your lungs and on your skin?” (NYTimes, Dec. 3, 2008)

As someone who loves Christmas trees – the tradition of decorating them, the wonderful evergreen smell, the mess of needles they drop all over the floor – I must admit, when picking out a tree I have always taken extra effort to find the one that looked most perfect. I wanted a tree with lots of needles, lots of branches, and a vivacious appearance. Although I can’t say with certainty, I strongly suspect that the trees that I was most drawn to were the ones that got the extra pesticides to ward off bugs, extra  fertilizers to grow bushy and tall, and extra fixatives to ensure that the needles would stick to the branches for as long as possible.

What to do? First off, don’t kid yourself into thinking that a plastic tree is a suitable alternative – our landfills are crammed with enough plastic already. Here are my two suggestions: 1. pony up the big bucks for a USDA certified organic tree (it’s your health, after all), 2. grow your own trees (think of it as a charitable donation to the environment).

Have suggestions as to where USDA certified organic trees can be found in the New England area? Help a neighbor out and post them here!

[In the interests of full transparency, because I will be spending my first Christmas away from home in a country with different Christmas traditions, I am freed from the tree conundrum. I will not be getting cosy with pesticides for Christmas!]