A Green Party member of Hertfordshire County Council issued a festive challenge to the authority to come up with a campaign for people to grow their own Christmas trees.

With more than 1.2 million residents in the county, tens of thousands of festive firs are being put up in homes this month. But by January the real trees among them will be thrown onto compost heaps or collected by councils and charities as green waste or wood chip.

On Tuesday (December 9), at a meeting of HCC, Cllr Matt Fisher (Green, St Albans Central) highlighted the need not just to 'deck the halls' but to decarbonise them.

He called on the Liberal Democrat executive's member for sustainability, Cllr Adrian England, to encourage residents to opt for a living, potted Christmas tree.

He said a campaign was needed to encourage people to buy or grow trees that can be nurtured and reused year after year. That would create "a living link to past Christmases" as well as support a "more frugal, sustainable, meaningful way of celebrating".

Cllr Fisher said it would cut the carbon footprint of tree production and transport and reduce "the significant financial and environmental costs of collecting and wood chipping the cut trees across Hertfordshire and beyond".

Cllr England said he supported Cllr Fisher's idea.

"Our corporate plan headline is a sustainable, inclusive and thriving Hertfordshire, so I very much like sustainable Christmas trees," he said.

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"I also like inclusive Christmas trees. And I think the best advice we can give to people is there is a diversity in Christmas trees.

"Plastic ones are okay, but you should keep them for 10 years. But if you can remember to water your Christmas tree so that it won't catch fire and burn your house down, that's also a very good thing.

"But I support the idea and I will immediately take it back to the team."

After Tuesday's meeting, where councillors were given the opportunity to question members of the executive, Cllr Fisher said he believed the provision of trees could be cost neutral for the council, maybe even saving money for residents and the authority.

He said he was encouraged by the response in the chamber.