Sequim’s Captain Crystal — known for her non-profit Dream Catcher hot air balloon rides — is beginning to attract attention to her current art project, an “artificial tree farm,” as she called it.

Since putting out the news last December that she wanted to save fake trees from the landfill, she and her helpers have “planted” 45-50 donated trees of various vintages and styles in her yard at 930 W. Bracket Road, Sequim.

“I have taken old Christmas trees, which normally would’ve gone into the landfill and reused, recycled and refurbished them to show that we can make a difference,” she said. “Right now I’m open to anyone who has a Christmas tree that they’re going to toss at the end of the season.”

Crystal, who prefers to go by her first name, envisions a woods of these around her 103-year-old farmhouse home. This piece of land has gone from being part of a dairy farm to a mostly unplanted patch to “attracting attention from the community, with people stopping by to take pictures and admire the display,” according to Crystal.

She says that too many of these artificial trees are thrown out.

“Why not take something that’s being tossed and unloved and find a home for it? I can just put in a T-post and zip it on. They’re made of metal wire and plastic. Why not make use of these resources and create my yard art concept?”

Sequim Gazette photo by Emily Matthiessen/ Hot air balloon pilot Captain Crystal Stout poses while her dog Lucy examines a blow-up statue while artificial trees glow in the background of her yard art project.

Artificial Christmas trees take more than 500 years to decompose in a landfill, according to Recycle Track Systems and others.

The Nature Conservancy reports “around 10 million artificial trees are purchased each season (and) nearly 90% of them are shipped across the world from China, resulting in an increase in carbon emissions and resources and because of the materials they are made of, most artificial trees are not recyclable and end up in local landfills.”

Statistics vary on whether 70-75% of American households use a Christmas tree of some type, which translates to about 94 million homes, according to the American Christmas Tree Association (ACTA).

30 million are harvested real trees, according to the Nature Conservancy.

People who use live Christmas trees are the minority, with no statistics reported.

In a 2018 study published on the ACTA website (which NPR said represents the artificial-tree industry), it was concluded that artificial trees should be used for at least five years to offset their environmental impact.

Crystal said that the ones she has acquired range from two-years-old to some that could be from the 1960s judging by their construction. She said that after a year in her yard they haven’t lost their color.

She and her helpers have “planted” the trees in groups, using T-posts to secure them. This process is made challenging by “Sequim potatoes,” rocks that obstruct the posts. If the posts aren’t deep enough or the trees attached securely enough, they can be blown over like a few were during the windstorm last week, she said.

Crystal tends to the trees, fixing their branches and repairing their light systems. She plans to leave them up all year and add as many more as she can. She said that people can drop off their unwanted trees against the fence by her parking area at 930 West Bracket Road. She asks for T-posts as well. Six foot would be ideal, she said, but shorter T-posts are welcome too, as they are helpful for shorter trees. Each artificial tree, once like the others of its manufacture, is now unique, and Crystal accepts them all in into her art and community re-use project.

She thinks this is the first project of its kind and hopes to inspire others to do something similiar. She said one idea is “to see how it would work with parks in areas where there is not enough water to sustain live trees.”

Crystal has put together a documentary on the evolution of the project, and, as requested by some people, she has detailed the process of “planting” the trees. The video is or will be up soon at her Youtube: youtube.com/@CaptCrystal.

Jeff Perry, friend and crew-member for Dream Catcher Balloons, who came out to help Crystal with a couple of trees that had fallen in the windstorm, said that he got involved because he believes in the Dream Catcher philosophy of giving rides to all people, for instance children that can’t walk, and that he’s gravitated toward helping with this project.

Bob Holt, out for the same reason, said “we get involved in a lot of things in the community.… This is what she’s really about, what can we do to help the community.”

Contact Captain Crystal CaptainDelivers@yahoo.com or (360) 601-2433.

Sequim Gazette photo by Emily Matthiessen Bob Holt, left, and Jeff Perry help Captain Crystal put up a tree in her yard art project that reuses old artificial Christmas trees to prevent them from being thrown in the landfill. She says she has plenty of room for more and to please put them against the fence in the distance of the picture. T-Posts, too, are very welcome.

Sequim Gazette photo by Emily Matthiessen/ Jeff Perry, left, and Bob Holt help Captain Crystal put up a tree in her yard art project which reuses old artificial Christmas trees which would otherwise be thrown in the landfill. She says she has plenty of room for more and to please put the against the fence along the side of her driveway. T-Posts, too, are very welcome.