Finding the right tree is not always easy, so this year I’m tempted to adopt. Yes, 5000 fijnsparren – Norway spruces are waiting in a wood near the F1 circuit at Francorchamps to be adopted. The idea is that you pay €40 to take a spar into your home for a couple of weeks. This may seem a bit on the steep side, but voor de levering en de ophaling van uw boom wordt gezorgd – the delivery and collection of your tree is taken care of.
For your part, you have to promise (!) hem mooi te versieren – to decorate it nicely and af en toe een beetje water te geven – water it now and again. When little Sprucey (or whatever name you’ve given it) is collected, it’s not tossed on a pyre in some pagan kerstboomverbranding – Christmas tree burning. No, in fact, since the tree still has its roots, it will be replanted with a label attached (so you’ll have to name it after all).
For each of the next three years you can pay €20 om een oude bekende in huis te halen – to get an old friend back in your home for the festive season. After that time your tree, like our strapping spruce, will be too big for your living room and will live happily ever after in the forest.
If, as they gently put it, uw boom om één of andere reden de volgende kerst niet haalt – your tree for one reason or another doesn’t make it to the next Christmas, you will be given a replacement. Fears that your old pal will be thrown to the flames are allayed: zij dienen als voeding voor de nieuwe – they serve as feeding for the new ones. Or to put it bluntly, your chum will be put through the shredder.
This sounds all very green, but what about all that transporting to and fro? Well, in all fairness, it’s a new initiative and there was no time to arrange ecotransport. Volgend jaar zal het vervoer volledig elektrisch zijn – Next year the transport will be completely electric.
But surely a lovely plastic tree like the one my brother-in-law Alex screws together each year is a greener solution. The tree adoption agency replies that een kerstboom moet je kunnen ruiken – you should be able to smell a Christmas tree. En er mag al eens een naald afvallen – And it should shed a needle or two. Tell that to Alex’s wife.
Flanders Today is a 
11°C / 26°C
