After 15 years of talking about why no one was getting the message that Christmas trees can be earth friendly, a group of tree growers is finally getting the message that they need to turn up the volume on their environmental efforts.

The Coalition of Environmentally Conscious Growers, formed a year ago by two of Washington state's biggest farms, is recruiting participants in its sustainable certification process through an aggressive PR campaign.

The goal is to plant the seeds now, so by the time "Deck the Halls" is playing in malls, the public will see a whole crop of newly minted, green-certified tree growers and forgo artificial ones.

Tired of hearing growers talk (read: complain) about how no one realized that many of them are working hard to preserve land, create sustainable plants and protect the environment, the owners of Holiday Tree Farms of Corvallis and Yule Tree Farms of Canby, formed the coalition and the certification process. 

To become certified by third-party certifier Freer Consulting of Seattle, growers must practice wetland management, soil and water conservation, nutrient management, biodiversity and pest management among other criteria. Growers pay a $1,000 application fee plus the costs of the audit, which ranges from $1,500 to $10,000, depending on the size of the farm. 

"I went to meeting after meeting and everybody just debated insignificant issues and lost sight of the big picture," says Joe Sharp, principal of Yule Tree Farms. "We needed something going because American agriculture, especially in our industry, is typically family-owned farms. These are people who have been doing the right thing for a long time and nobody takes note."

They were also tired of hearing artificial tree sellers pitch their product as friendlier to the planet.

"The Christmas tree industry was getting devastated by people buying fake trees made out of polyurethane and all these different byproducts coming out of oil, petroleum-based stuff," Sharp explains. "We are dubbed as cutting forests and doing all the wrong things. This has to stop."

To help growers get the recognition they deserve and shake off the bad rap, they are conducting public service bulletin programs and contacting local media outlets in markets selling certified trees. This includes producing television, radio and print public service announcements, disseminating news releases and creating point-of-purchase posters.

Three large farms and one smaller farm have been certified, and applications have been sent from "all over the country," Sharp says, estimating about 2,500 to 3,000 growers in the U.S. "A majority of them are probably already practicing sustainable agriculture but they're just not being recognized for it."

--Kori Kamradt
kkamradt@safnow.org

 


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