Keeping environmentally friendly during the season

Last year I wrote about the Delancey Street Foundation and that we support the organization by buying our tree at one of their lots every year. It was no different this year.
But what I wanted to write about this time around was the certified environmentally friendly tree we purchased.
According to the website, Coalition of Environmentally Conscious Growers, the Coalition group of Christmas tree growers agrees to farm using methods that are conscious of the environment, and to submit their farms to an ongoing series of independent physical audits that verify compliance with strict certification program standard.
According to the tag, which certifies that the tree was grown under stringent conditions, on our tree, the independent auditor evaluates using this criteria:

• Riparian/Wetland Management
  
• Soil and Water Conservation
  
• Nutrient Management
  
• Pest Management
  
• Worker Safety and Protection
  
• Biodiversity
  
  

Our tree came from Holiday Tree Farms has been growing trees since 1955. Our tree came from Oregon and was grown on a tree farm and not harvested from a natural forest.
And as I wrote in my post last year, North American real Christmas trees are grown in all 50 states and Canada. Eighty percent of all artificial trees are manufactured in China. Real trees are recyclable. Artificial trees contain non-biodegradable plastic. That information came from this article.