At least seven groups on the West Coast are now offering a service where consumers can rent a natural tree without the guilt of dumping it curbside later according to an article in USA Today. These companies will store the trees for the year and trim them. You can rent the same tree the next year. I hadn’t heard of this but it evidently isn’t a new idea: Companies in Britain have been renting Christmas trees for years. In the debate about real versus fake Christmas trees, I prefer real trees, but I cringe when I see folks planting live Christmas trees in their yards – nine times out of ten it is an unattractive landscaping move – especially in my neck of the woods. The concept of renting live trees is excellent. I hope more people offer this service in the future.