Here are a few of my favorites: MULCH - Snip the boughs off of your tree and chop them up finely to top-dress a bed or container. Don't worry about the acidity of the needles - they're totally fine to use as mulch.

So potted trees are the most sustainable option, but they need looking after,” says Anja-Lea Fischer, Global Head Operational Sustainability at Zurich Insurance Group. If you don't have a garden to replant your potted tree, then there's another alternative: rent a real Christmas tree.

This is very common in all varieties of pines. To improve marketability and provide the Christmas green color that people desire, growers will often spray the trees with an FDA-approved liquid acrylic colorant. "Colorants are very safe, they're non-toxic to anybody who were to put it in their mouth," says Nilssen.