For many eco-individuals celebrating Christmas creates a host of green dilemmas. Do you purchase fair-trade gifts or no gifts? Local or organic food? A living tree or artificial tree? Designers Nick Ng and Dan Greene from Cloud Gate Design, have come up with an innovative product to help make your Christmas a bit more sustainable.
The two young designers have created the Cardboard Christmas Tree, a modernistic and sustainable, 3 foot by 3 foot, rendition of the traditional cut or fake Christmas tree. We caught up with Nick Ng, Design Director at Cloud Gate Design to ask him a few questions about the super-cool Cardboard Christmas Tree.
Tell us about the Cardboard Christmas Tree.
The Cardboard Christmas Tree (CCT) is made from recycled cardboard in Chicago and throughout its development we tried to follow sustainable design principles. The CCT comes in a flat-pack box and includes over fifty cardboard ornaments that can be attached by sliding them into cut-outs in the tree. The tree can also support conventional ornaments and tinsel or even be used as a blank canvas to paint, glue or draw on.
We donate part of the profits to the Arbor Day Foundation and since the tree is manufactured in Chicago we are only shipping to North America to reduce the environmental impact from shipping.
Where did the idea come from?
I had the idea quite a number of years ago when I couldn't find a tree that I liked for Christmas. From there the idea of a Cardboard Christmas Tree came to me as something that I would find appealing and also practical for a number of reasons. The idea got shelved somewhere in the back of my head shortly after that.
I subsequently moved to the US with my family 4 years ago and met Dan through work. One day we happened to be talking about Christmas products and I mentioned the Cardboard Christmas Tree idea to him. He immediately got it and from there we decided to make a project of it and start a company, Cloud Gate Design.
At the time we both felt that we could spend our spare time doing the project as a creative outlet and also educate ourselves about sustainable design and bringing a product to market.
What is the purpose of the cardboard tree?
We developed the tree to offer a modern eco-friendly alternative to a traditional real/artificial tree. We saw a gap in the market where urban dwelling people, with limited space like Dan and I, who were looking for an environmentally conscious artificial tree had limited options. As we progressed, we realized the material choice and design would be great for creative decorating too - allowing adults and children to turn the tree into their own work of art.
The tree was also our attempt at developing a product and building viable business around sustainable design principles.
How is the cardboard tree a more sustainable option for Christmas trees?
In designing the tree we wanted to follow sustainable design principles so we made sure that we used recycled content for its construction, we also thought it was important to have it manufactured in the country it was being sold to reduce the environmental impact of shipping. The tree is 100% recyclable unlike typical artificial trees which are commonly made from materials such as PVC that tend to end up in landfill and it can be used year after year. Our contributions to the Arbor Day Foundation to help plant more trees also set us apart from other tree options.
Is the cardboard tree designed to take the place of a regular tree?
The tree is designed to offer an alternative to regular trees; we have a few advantages such as easy storage (flat-pack) and no pine needles. It would be unrealistic for us to think that everyone would have one of these in their house although it would be nice.
Who do you think will buy these trees?
We think that the tree is perfect for people who live in apartments and have limited space, also artists who want to use the tree as a canvas - college students who want to celebrate the holidays in the dorm but go home during Christmas and even parents of children who want to participate in a creative activity over the holidays. Others who simply appreciate it for its novel use of material and unique design may like to have one as well.
Are they difficult to set up?
The tree is very simple to set up; the tree is comprised of two pieces that slide together with an interlocking base. The ornaments can be attached by sliding them into the cut-outs in the tree.
Are they reusable?
Absolutely. If the trees are looked after they can be flat-packed away and reused year after year.
How is the Arbor Day Foundation involved?
The Arbor Day Foundation is not involved with our company, however, when we started the project we wanted to make sure we did something that had a social and environmental conscience and wanted to donate part of the profits to an environmental organization. It seemed logical that if we were doing a Christmas Tree that we choose an organization that planted trees. With The Cardboard Christmas Tree we set out to create a product that would hopefully reduce the necessity to cut a real tree down and also reduce the necessity for existing plastic artificial trees.
How much does a tree cost?
The tree is USD $22.95.
The Cardboard Christmas Tree is available at: http://www.thecardboardtree.com
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