Come Christmas and every single house that celebrates the festival would have a tree in its backyard decked with colorful lights. While many may complain that a few strings of lights would not contribute much to the energy costs, the collective energy usage of all the houses that have these lights is something one needs to ponder about.
This is why a few individuals have come forward to find out ways to light up a Christmas tree without electricity. Here are such initiatives, some of which are considered innovative while others are considered plain bizarre.
Brussels sprouts powered Christmas tree lights
Here is a Christmas Tree whose lights are powered by a battery made out of Brussels sprouts. Located in Southbank, London, the eight foot tree is decked with lights that get their power from over 1000 Brussels sprouts. The five power cells that make up the battery are fitted with 200 sprouts each, and can collectively produce over 63 volts, enough to power all the lights on the tree.
No need to worry though, for the tree falls into the ‘extra-low voltage’ group and can be touched without the fear of being electrocuted. The invention owes its design to the scientists from the world renowned Big Bang UK Young Scientists and Engineers Fair. It would surely be a sight for all those who love as well as hate sprouts.
Pedal powered Christmas tree lights
Here’s another unique way to power the lights on a Christmas Tree. The pedal powered Christmas tree comes with an energy converter that converts the kinetic energy generated while pedaling, into electrical energy. The electrical energy thus generated is used to power the lights. Take the Christmas Tree present in the Royal Festival Hall in South Bank, London for example. The tree has a bicycle attached to it so that anyone can jump onto it and contribute some electricity to the tree.
LED powered Christmas tree lights
This Christmas tree is a perfect example of how you can use less energy to light up a tree and still get away with a spectacular sight. The giant tree looks absolutely amazing, thanks to the 30000 LED lights that have been used to decorate. In addition to using less energy to burn, these LED lights are also solar powered, and harness enough solar power throughout the day to illuminate the tree beautifully at night.
Contribute with a kiss under the mistletoe
One of the things Christmas is famous for happens to be the age old tradition of kissing under mistletoe. Someone apparently wanted to put to good use all these kisses, and came up with the idea of a Christmas Tree with lights that will light up when someone shares a kiss underneath them. For every kiss, one of the 50000 white and red LEDs light up. So should you come across this tree, pucker up to do your bit to light up the tree with your kiss.
Wind powered Christmas trees
As a perfect example of science and nature joining hands to perform magic, the people of San Borja, which is located in Lima, Peru, have come up with an idea to power a Christmas tree with nothing but the wind. The wind is harnessed and converted into electricity, which is then supplied to the thousands of light bulbs decorating the tree.
Solar Powered Christmas Tree
We have seen our share of solar powered Christmas trees. But something about the one in Brisbane, Australia seems to stand out. The 17-foot tree is decorated with over 16000 light bulbs which give it a beautiful glow by night. The highlight of the design, however, is the giant, shiny star that sits atop the tree. Fitted with solar panels, the star absorbs enough solar power to generate at least 50 amps of power every single hour.
A Christmas tree can be powered up in so many ways without harming the environment in the process. From solar and wind power to kiss and even pedal derived power, these are some of the most unusually green ways to power up your Christmas tree.
