- Marc Marquez quickest in Australian MotoGP practice
- 'Like Texas': Spain's arid south draws Western film shoots
- With record production, Moldova plum farmers hail EU integration
- Nigerians sacrifice cars as cost of living crisis worsens
- Liverpool face Chelsea title test, Ten Hag fights to avoid sack
- Dodgers roll while Guardians fry Yankees in MLB playoff thriller
- Top Texas court stays execution of autistic man in 'shaken baby' case
- China posts slowest growth in over a year as property woes drag
- Asian markets swing as China economic growth slows
- Pogba's shadow looms over Juve as revitalised Lazio come to town
- 'Unbelievable' Raphinha leading Barca into tricky triple-header
- In-form Marmoush and Frankfurt hope to tackle history at wounded Leverkusen
- Britain's Lammy in China to 'challenge' Beijing on Russia support
- Manila's car counters help address 'world's worst traffic'
- British racing attendances falling behind, says Qatar Racing's manager
- Rain forces cancellation of opening practice for Australian MotoGP
- Dupont 'beyond surprise' for Toulouse's Kinghorn
- Drought forces Big Tech to rethink thirsty LatAm data centers
- Countries under pressure to fork out for nature at UN conference
- Biden, allies in Berlin to renew Gaza truce call after Hamas leader killed
- Guardians rally to fry Yankees in 10 innings in MLB playoff thriller
- World Bank president focused on job creation ahead of annual meetings
- World Bank chief says lender's climate goals likely safe under Trump
- Japan's core inflation rate slows in September
- Israel PM says killing of Hamas chief 'beginning of the end' of Gaza war
- King Charles set to arrive in Australia for landmark tour
- Nadal defeated by 'animal' Alcaraz in Saudi Arabia as career nears end
- US Supreme Court denies stay of execution to Texas man in 'shaken baby' case
- US charges Indian agent over alleged plot to kill Sikh separatist
- Musk stumps for Trump in key US swing state
- TikTok, Facebook approve ads with US election disinformation, study says
- Purdy and 49ers face Chiefs in Super Bowl rematch
- Kenya deputy president ousted in historic impeachment
- Israel military says Sinwar killed in firefight while tracked by drone
- One Direction members 'devastated' by Liam Payne's death
- Norris shrugs off Red Bull 'trick' of the trade at US Grand Prix
- Global stocks climb as ECB cuts rates and tech rebounds
- Chelsea, Lyon ease to wins in Women's Champions League
- China expected to post slowing growth as economic woes drag
- Yamasaki brings keirin world title home as Japan takes two track golds
- Netflix adds millions of subscribers but growth slows
- 'Deeply misguided' to wall US off with tariffs: Yellen
- Biden farewell visit to Berlin focused on Ukraine, Mideast wars
- EU leaders urge new laws to speed up migrant returns
- Sinwar killing a blow to Hamas but impact on war uncertain
- Mitzi Gaynor, star of 'South Pacific,' dies aged 93
- Trump says Zelensky 'should never have let' Ukraine war start
- Harris woos undecided voters as Trump riles critics over Ukraine
- Hayes turns focus to US women's World Cup goal
- Zelensky seeks EU, NATO backing for 'victory plan'
SCS | 0.53% | 13.21 | $ | |
RBGPF | 0.69% | 60.92 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.52% | 25.02 | $ | |
CMSC | -0.52% | 24.79 | $ | |
NGG | -1.41% | 67.19 | $ | |
GSK | -0.64% | 38.96 | $ | |
RIO | -1.32% | 65.09 | $ | |
BTI | -1.22% | 35.37 | $ | |
BCC | -3.38% | 142.2 | $ | |
RELX | 0.91% | 48.59 | $ | |
AZN | -0.37% | 78.02 | $ | |
JRI | -0.15% | 13.15 | $ | |
BP | 1.25% | 31.32 | $ | |
VOD | -1.23% | 9.73 | $ | |
BCE | 0.03% | 33.49 | $ | |
RYCEF | 0.68% | 7.4 | $ |
Rent-a-tree firm helps Londoners have a sustaintable Christmas
On a crisp, winter's day at a London scout centre, seasoned customers picked their way along muddy rows of Christmas trees in pots labelled with their names while newcomers mulled over which one to rent. "It's a big decision" said one.
With a rise in popularity of artificial trees for environmental reasons, Londoners who prefer a real Christmas tree can now be equally sustainable.
Instead of throwing away their tree in January they can instead return it -- having watered it in its pot over the festive season -- to a new rental firm which will look after it until the following year.
"We just say it’s 'rent, water, return'. After Christmas, return it and we put it back into the irrigation," said Jonathan Mearns, who runs London Christmas Tree Rental.
Mearns, who in another life was a police officer working in counter terrorism, started the business in 2017 and now has a loyal band of customers who come back year after year.
The business uses a farm location in the Cotswolds in central England, where the trees are irrigated and looked after before being returned for another Christmas.
"It started off as I think what some people would have said was a crazy idea -- but it has grown over the years and more and more people are interested in renting a Christmas tree," he told AFP as the centre in Dulwich in south London.
"There’s big growth, big growth in it. We’re not saying we have perfect trees what we say is we have real trees," he added.
Publishing worker Jess Sacco and doctor Rachel Gordon Boyd, both in their mid-thirties, said the green aspect of renting a tree was appealing.
- Cutting waste -
"We’re trying to be more sustainable in general I guess in our lives... we thought it’s just a nice alternative to buying a tree and throwing it away," Sacco said.
Mearns says he finds it dispiriting every January to see so many lifeless brown trees abandoned and destined to decompose.
"You will see on the streets of London in January or anywhere around the country, there will be lots of cut trees strewn on the roadside.
"Now those trees are dead, once they’re cut they’re dead, recovering them is impossible," he said.
The entrepreneur and motivational speaker, who says he is on a mission to reduce waste at Christmas, says that a three-foot (one-metre) tree from his company could be a four-foot tree next year..
The idea has tapped into Londoners' concerns about the amount they throw away and adopting a sustainable lifestyle.
"Because there’s so much waste that goes on with chucking them every year. I wanted to have a real Christmas tree but something more sustainable," said Joe Potter, a 36-year-old policy manager said.
"It’s something that’s on our mind a lot as a family, he added.
M.Furrer--BTB