Tiny Christmas trees: Father-son duo offers eco-friendly holiday alternative

An eight-year-old Montrealer and his dad have created an eco-friendly option to chopping down Christmas trees each year.

Etienne Ethier was three years old when he shared an idea with his father Martin: tiny Christmas trees.

The idea is to adopt a small tree for the holidays instead of cutting down a full-grown tree and tossing it away at the end of the season.

“It’s my son’s idea,” said Martin. “We were looking for something to do in the wintertime. I grow organic hops in the summertime, and my son whispered in my ears, ‘tiny trees.’”

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That was in 2016. Today, the father and son’s Tiny Tree project is an eco-friendly initiative.

Trees are “adopted,” so they can be returned at the end of the holidays to the Ethiers – they call it “Tiny Tree Land” – to keep taking care of them. A customer can request the same tree year after year. The alternative: the tree can be kept and planted outdoors.

“Also, for every new adoption, we plant one extra tree,” said Ethier. “So that means for somebody who makes that choice, for instance this Christmas, he saves a tree, there’s a tiny tree, and the extra tree that is planted. So that’s three more trees in the environment.”

The Tiny Trees are certified organic.

“The tree is really alive. There’s organic soil in a small pot.”

Over the last few years, Ethier says 40 per cent of customers return their tiny tree for the year-round care, and keep coming back.

“Mainly because I have three kids and they really loved the tree,” said a Tiny Tree customer. “So we thought, you know what, let’s decorate a bit more the outside on our balcony. And we see the tree grow because, you know, they stay planted and it’s like giving back to nature.”

While keeping in touch with customers via the Tiny Tree Facebook page, the project distributes in Montreal, Quebec City, Ottawa, Toronto and Hamilton, with hopes of one day expanding to Vancouver.

But for now, Ethier says he’s enjoying every moment with his son – nicknamed “Tiny” – who just like their trees, is growing up.

“He’s such a great child,” Ethier said of his boy. “Yeah, we’re really having fun. We take it slowly, it’s really happy times.”