They also saved a lot of electricity usage by switching to LED light bulbs on the tree. A cost that will not be recovered by the energy savings any time soon, but is still a good move.

It's not just energy costs. I'm thinking of switching to LED Xmas lights at home because LEDs last forever. It'd be worth it to save the time and hassle of finding and replacing dead bulbs, not having to worry about stepping on them, etc etc.

Although not specifically mentioned here, the change to LEDs are what helped lower the power consumption from 3,510 to 1,297 KWh.

More importantly to everyone who decorates at Christmas, LEDs are cool to the touch in addition to their low power draw. This should significantly lower the number of Christmas tree/home fires (roughly 200/year!)during the holiday seasons to come as more people change over to light emitting diodes. Most of those fires were caused by either hot bulbs in dry trees or overloading of electrical circuits (control your extension cords!!!).

Something is just so odd about this being called a "green tree". They cut down an old tree and drive it on a huge diesel truck over many miles to stand it up in the middle of the city. But the lights are "green". Smart...

Think of the carbon footprint of the entire process: the raising of the tree in a farm, not a natural setting where no human intervention, which all but requires the use of hydrocarbons at least to get them to the farm if not in the equipment used there or in the fertilizer. Then the footprint of harvesting it with a chainsaw or other mechanized implement, hauling it to where it's purchased, hauling it to where it'll be put up, the power used to run even the most efficient lighting system possible, and finally to have it either chopped up for compost/mulch at one's home (best) or hauled to a landfill (worst). And this is all on top of chopping down a tree that by itself was lessening the atmosphere's carbon content. These cutesy-pie half-measures are NO substitute for taking the morally correct stand and not having a decorated tree of any kind for "Christmas."

You want a tree for "Christmas" or whatever? Go plant one. You'll be doing a damn sight better for the Earth than the hypocrites at Universal!

But there aren't any that give off the same warm white glow of incandescents. They look cool, but also cold, because of their ultra-white light; it looks too blue. Incandescent bulbs make decorations look more warm and inviting, though they are definitely hotter, and more dangerous.

Hey mark,
great post.. sounds fabulous.. yeah i agree its a great feeling watching the chrismtas tree with bright lights all over it and enjoying the festival with some lovely music...
Okay...so I'm a big fan of variety shows. There's something about the "over-the-top"ness that I enjoy. But last year, when my friend took me to a new variety show called Holiday Wonders, I didn't know if I'd like it.
What the show actually was kinda blew my mind. It was like the writers/directors/performers had squeezed the best essence out of Chinese traditional culture, added a dash of zesty Western accent, and come up with a whole new dish. I saw my own cultural history (as a Westerner) from a new perspective and my eyes were really opened to the depth of artistry that China's five thousand-year-old culture has produced.

It expanded my horizons and I feel confident recommending it. Check out the website at www.holidaywonders.com. Let me know what you think.