Courtesy of Gallery Libby Sellers
The Christmas Tree Project, a collaboration between Gallery Libby Sellers and the designer Fabien Cappello, will turn discarded Christmas trees into rustic, three-legged stools.
Although it’s lovely to have a fresh Christmas tree, the sight of all those bedraggled branches left at the curb in January is nothing short of depressing. But in London this season, there’s an alternative to the wood chipper: the Christmas Tree Project, a collaboration between Gallery Libby Sellers and the up-and-coming designer Fabien Cappello. The project is an extension of Cappello’s 2009 graduation work at the Royal College of Art, and will recycle spruces, pines and firs into unique, handcrafted three-legged stools designed by Cappello. The stools, which cost about $621 each, can be ordered from the United States too. Obviously, a buyer from the States won’t be able to send in a tree to be recycled, but there will be plenty of “orphans” available in London, where it’s estimated that most of this year’s 976,000 Christmas trees will simply be thrown away. And not only will the trees get new lives; the Woodland Trust, a leading conservation organization in Britain, will get a portion of the profits.