Many Tapatios are entering the Christmas season with an ecological as well as festive focus.
A business giving them the opportunity to rent a living pine tree and have it delivered to their doorsteps is proving to be “very popular,” says Luis Cisneros, manager of the Vive Pino branch on Guadalajara’s Avenida Tepeyac.
Vive Pino has opened two temporary outlets in the metro area to rent out the trees.
The seven-to-eight-year-old trees were cultivated in the State of Mexico near Toluca from Canadian Douglas Fir seeds. They were then potted and moved to a nursery in Tapalpa, where they will be cared for and rented out for the next few winters, until they become too tall and are ready for reforestation.
Vive Pino rents a 2.20-meter tall tree for 1,200 pesos, and a 1.90-meter tree for 1,000 pesos.
The cost is slightly more than the “harvested” trees on sale throughout the city in supermarkets and tianguis, Cisneros admits, but notes it includes transportation to the domicile and collection in the second week of January.
For an extra 350 pesos, the customer can purchase the tree outright, Cisneros says, before warning that the trees will grow 15 centimeters a year, and up to 35 meters in total height.
The trees need two liters of water every third day and need to be placed in an area with good ventilation.
Cisneros says the trees will easily survive their time indoors but the month-long sojourn can be a little “stressful” for them. He suggests they are not positioned in dark areas or in direct sunlight.
Christmas lights should be used judiciously, he says.
Vive Pino has brought in 600 trees from Tapalpa to rent out during the holiday season and Cisneros expects them all to find homes.
Cisneros said the company hopes to send customers photos of their trees by email by the middle of next year, so they can see how they are growing and rent them again the following holiday season if they wish.
Mexicans buy 1.2 million Christmas trees each year. Many environmentalists say it is better to buy a farm-grown real tree rather than a fake one; some go further and say it is even better to rent a living tree because dying trees release greenhouse gasses when they decompose and overcrowd landfills.
Vive Pino’s main branch is located at Avenida Tepeyac 4030, Colonia Chapalita, a half-block from Niño Obrero, tel. (33) 3630-1407. Trees are also for rent on Avenida Patria, across from the Colomos Park, next to the entrance of the Atlas Country Club. Delivery in the metro area outside the periferico (beltway) incurs an additional fee of 100 pesos.
For more information visit www.vivepino.com.