With Christmas fast approaching, many Hongkongers are getting into the Yuletide spirit by putting up beautifully decorated trees in their homes and businesses. While most buyers will search high and low for the perfect Christmas tree that’ll look just right with their sparkling ornaments, have you ever wondered where the trees that didn’t make the cut end up?
To the chipper, apparently. A woman named Lydia Tong, who reportedly works at Hung Wai, a company which makes planks in the industrial recycling “EcoPark”, posted photos of dozens of bundled-up evergreen trees to Facebook on Monday evening:
In the caption, she wrote, “Please save the Christmas trees! It’s not even Christmas yet and they’ve have already been cast aside because nobody wanted them. Dozens of trees were just dumped at my office, it’s so sad. The holidays haven’t even started yet, and they’ve already been sent to their death. If anyone wants a tree, come and pick one up free of charge.”
Within half an hour, somebody commented, “I will go get one.” Slowly, more and more people began inquiring about the trees’ dimensions, and how they could pick one up.
Some commenters lamented the fact that the apparently healthy and green trees were discarded, while others argued that the only reason they had been cut was to meet the Christmas demand.
“10:45am [Tuesday], there are over 20 trees left.”
One person doubted whether all the trees could be given away, and said the logistics of having to move the bulky bundles would put people off “even if they’re free”. However, exactly 48 hours after Tong’s post was first published, every last tree was given away.
“A beautiful big Christmas tree in its new home!”
Pictures of the adopted trees all spruce-d up in their new homes were swiftly shared in the comments, with many of their happy owners thanking Tong and her colleagues for their efforts to reduce waste and spread holiday cheer at the same time.
But there’s more that we as individuals can do to have a green Christmas, such as sending electronic holiday cards instead of paper ones (or at least using cards from recycled paper), reusing ornaments and tableware, donating excess food and gifts to the needy, or even just using a darn shopping bag when you pick up your Crimbo gifts. For more tips, check out the government’s guide to having green holidays.
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