Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
The 2017 Dead Christmas Tree Competition is open
The first abandoned Christmas trees of 2017 have hit the streets of Harringay, forlornly propped against bins and planters. This is what you should do with them but every year the dead Christmas tree competition opens about this time to test how long residents hang on to their trees before sneaking out in the dead of night to put them in the Harringay Passage.
One year, Alan Stanton, found one in April but this has since been surpassed by, if I remember rightly, Adam who found one abandoned in December! Not sure anyone will do better but let's see how late the discarded Christmas trees will appear in 2017. Photographic evidence must be provided.
Here's a couple of desolate ones from this week:
Somehow, when I see these sad, yellowing trees by the side of bins, I'm always reminded of the tragic little tale by Hans Christian Anderson 'The Fir Tree'
Tags for Forum Posts: dead christmas tree competition 2017
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Sarah on
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At my work no one watered the Christmas tree in reception. It died very quickly. One day I walked through and there was a woman sitting next to it crying. It was the saddest thing I'd ever seen.
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Permalink Reply by 1vut8bf3om5m9 on
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The pre-Christmas discarded tree is because someone wanted one for the season then went away elsewhere right before Christmas day and wanted to take it all down before leaving town. I've done this.
I've had a hard time getting the council to collect my tree when cutting it up the proper way and putting it in garbage bags, so while I wouldn't do what these people have done, I understand it a bit more than, say, the dog crap they leave so selfishly in the Passage.
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I'm with you, Anka. What a waste and a pain a real tree is. I used to have a lovely little potted tree which I brought indoors for Christmas but my artificial tree is just fine too. We should stop creating this monumental problem in the first place.
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Permalink Reply by Liz on
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I'm with you both on Christmas trees and cut flowers Anka (especially when people "harvest" all the carefully planted daffodils in parks and planters!). The disposal of the trees after Christmas is one of my (some would say many) bugbears. The council make it very easy to do and still people dump. If someone went to the trouble of carrying the wretched things home, they can at least do the tree the honour of carrying it somewhere to be dealt with correctly. Bah humbug!
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At least the residents have put them in the bin and not chucked them in the street.
That's kind of a different argument about cheapness of goods and the throwaway society. For example, I'm always horrified at the end of large festivals at the amount of camping equipment just left. At least a lot of that camping gear gets re-used but the mentality is destructive.
Decorating the house with garlands at Christmas is an old tradition - garlands were expected to stay up until Candlemas and taking branches of things doesn't kill the trees. Prince Albert did us no favours importing the tree custom. ( yeah, my kids love my attitude to Christmas - "can we have a tree?", "no, a bit of holly is good enough" )
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Permalink Reply by StephenBln on
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They are consumer objects and are specifically grown for christmas, exactly like the brussel sprouts and cabbages, which btw, often also end up in the dustbin.
This is a similar argument to eating cows and pigs rather than cats and dogs. Christmas trees are considered cuddly and are objects of our love, a bit like Liz's cut flowers. BUT, ban them and they won't even get a chance to grow.
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Fir trees aren't really native to this country and pine forests aren't as good for wildlife as native trees. Rendlesham Forest was planted after the war because the country needed a lot of wood very fast for construction but it's not a brilliant habitat for native species. So those trees are gradually coming down and native species being allowed to return bringing a diversity of wildlife with them. So the cuddly argument doesn't wash for me. I'm not that fond of them.
The economic argument for British farmers is strong. The Farmers's weekly article shows the Xmas tree farmer can make more money from trees than from arable farming. So it's probably a good idea to check the provenance of the trees to ensure that economic argument remains valid.
Christmas trees are a very narrow market. Yes Brussels are grown for Xmas but are available outside the "window" of Xmas as are cabbages. I realise people aren't going to give them up but like eating cows and pigs, they can make better decisions about buying and disposing of them.
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Well they do break or fall apart. But I think I've had at least 7 Christmases out of mine and intend to use it for at least another 7. I liked having a potted tree that you bring inside for Christmas but the tree itself didn't like being brought in. It would take it 6-8 weeks to recover.
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Permalink Reply by Lauren on
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We bought our real potted tree 4 Christmases ago from Wolves Lane. It was one of the few left that nobody wanted and a bit straggly and pathetic looking. My partner felt sorry for it and paid £7 for it. It's in a pot and lives outside during the year and comes in at Christmas for a few days. It still looks a bit sad and lopsided- it's a bit of a joke but has become part of our Christmas tradition and we like it.
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They don't weigh much and are easy to balance. My recycling point is just a km from home in Downhills Park - easy. And when I started carrying it across the park I was stopped by a parks warden with a cage truck who took it from me and said it was ok to leave it inside the entrance to the park closest to me.
I don't know if it's the same here but where I'm from Christmas trees are just the offcut tops of trees grown for paper. So not wasteful at all.
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They are farmed in this country. That 6ft Nordman Fir could have taken 10yrs to grow. source: http://www.fwi.co.uk/farm-life/a-year-in-the-life-of-a-christmas-tr...
Keeping it Eco -the pros and cons https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ethicallivingblog/2008/dec/...
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