Under construction: World's greenest Christmas tree.
I saw a little item today about how New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg was going to announce that the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree will be "green" for the first time. This made me declare that "green" is officially over.
Then I read the press release, and I started to think it's actually kind of cool. The tree's lights will be LEDs, which they claim will "draw a fraction of the power that is traditionally required by the tree, reducing energy consumption from 3,510 kilowatt hours to 1,297 kilowatt hours per day, saving as much energy as a single family would use in a month in a 2,000 square foot home." Rockefeller Center is also installing solar panels on the roof of one building to reduce electricity consumption, and they claim the electricity the solar panels will generate will more than compensate for the tree's lights.
This also caught my eye:
"For the first time this year, the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree was cut with a handheld saw this year to reduce energy use. Tishman Speyer is replanting/re-greening the land where the tree came from and recycling all appropriate materials used during the cutting event. Upon completion of the holiday season, the tree will be milled and treated and made into lumber to be used by Habitat for Humanity."
Awww, my grinchy little heart just grew three sizes.
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