This year in Los Angeles, a new organization called The Living Christmas Company is offering a unique way to buy Christmas trees. They are offering several different types of baby trees that people can choose from to rent.

     The process works like this: whoever adopts/rents the tree has it mailed to them in a pot or small container. The client then sends it back after the Christmas season, and waits until next season when it gets mailed back to them.

     By adopting or renting a tree, a family has the opportunity to watch it develop and grow throughout the years, rather than just throwing away a regular farm grown tree after just a few weeks.

     Adopting a tree is definitely a much better way to spend your money, considering it is much better for the environment and not wasteful. Even though some trees the company offers cannot be rented year after year, those that do not make the cut are donated to a tree planting organization or become part of an Urban Reforestation Project.

     The trees that are adopted last for about seven years. When they grow too large to rent, they are planted elsewhere. When choosing to rent a tree, people can choose from various sizes.

     This is not the first business to offer rentable trees. There are currently three other companies that have been in existence before The Living Christmas Company.

     The Original Living Christmas Tree Company established in 1992, set up in Portland, Oregon, was the first company to introduce the idea of adopting trees for Christmas. San Francisco also has its own company called Friends of the Urban Forest that offers a variety of traditional sized trees. Also, a business simply named Adopt a Christmas Tree in San Diego offers traditional trees for the Christmas season.

     If it were me, I would never think again of buying a traditional farm cut tree when I know I will just end up throwing it out on the street a week after Christmas. Adopting a tree is a great way to help out the environment, plus you get the full experience of watching it grow into a tall and beautiful tree. Everyone should consider the benefits of renting a tree before buying a traditionally cut tree that will not have as much purpose or meaning.