Each year we are proud to rent living Christmas trees to families in businesses in Oklahoma City, and this year is no different. Despite the added challenges of Social Greenery changing ownership mid season, we were still able to rent 210 sustainable Christmas trees. Of those, over 120 were donated to local nonprofits (the others kept by their Christmas families or part of our Grow With Me Tree program), primarily our environmental beautification partner, OKC Beautiful. The real wonder is that OKC Beautiful is then able to find appropriate placement for all these trees to be planted for their decades-long future in our community.
These donated Christmas trees are 15 gallon Leyland Cypresses, all standing approximately 7 feet tall planted. The environmental impact of these trees is hard to estimate, but we know that fast-growing evergreens (including Leyland Cypresses) are among the most effective at carbon sequestration. Beyond their obvious function as carbon sinks, these trees are beautiful, they increase habitat for birds and urban critters, and make Oklahoma City more appealing for new citizens and businesses to migrate here.
This year OKC Beautiful included Lillian Timber Farms, an education and sustainable farm in an underserved part of Oklahoma City, amongst the recipients of our donated trees. We are delighted to see some of our core values, namely community and climate, extending through the grantees of these trees. It’s our hope to turn family traditions, namely Christmas trees, into an opportunity to generate lasting social good instead of waste. We see our vision move closer to being realized through this year’s tree giveaway program by OKC Beautiful. We’re grateful for their hard work and diligence in rehoming these beautiful trees.
Our customers agree: “It was so nice to say goodbye to our tree, knowing it was going to keep growing and gracing someone else’s space as it had ours. Such a wonderful program!! Our second year and we plan to do it again next year!!” said Cynthia Brindley of Oklahoma City. OKC Beautiful closes the circle in our rent-celebrate-donate-plant Christmas tree model, and we are so proud to call them a partner.
If you’re ready to be part of the magic, tree reservations for Christmas 2022 are open, and we would love you to join us.
