Ever walk past Christmas trees in early January and feel a ping of sadness? Well, you’re not alone. Having spent years walking past these dead trees without a second thought, all of a sudden I was seeing them everywhere; it seemed endemic. In January 2014 I came across an article addressing the waste of the Christmas season and it seemed to echo my own melancholy and low winter mood. I felt like documenting these trees was the perfect antidote to the ultra-consumerist Christmas season. What started as a poetic tribute to Christmas misery, evolved into a yearly campaign encouraging people to reconsider their choices at this time of year.

A few years in to the project, I really began to think about the sustainability of different Christmas trees. I've always felt there must be a better alternative to growing real trees so they can sit in someone's living room for three weeks before being dumped. According to The Guardian, over 7 million trees will end up in UK landfills this year, with an estimated carbon footprint of 16kg of CO2 for each 6ft tree. That means those 7 million trees will create around 100,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases this year.

Unfortunately, plastic reusable trees aren't always the best alternative, as they are often made from polyvinyl chloride (PVC), which pollutes throughout its entire life span and is difficult to recycle. Artificial trees need to be re-used at least 8 times to keep their environmental impact lower than that of a real tree.

Greenpeace advise any real trees should come from local, sustainable tree farms that don’t use pesticides, and either replanted or responsibly composted after use. If you end up going for a new artificial tree, try to select a high-quality one that will last a long time and can be recycled when you’re finished.