Fake v. Real. The debate over which Christmas tree is “greener” continues, but when you look at the evidence, there’s only one good option (unless you suffer from horrible allergies). A real tree is the best choice. Tree farms employ 100,000 people in America, an acre of Christmas trees supply enough oxygen for 18 people, and Christmas trees are a renewable resource. A fresh-cut balsam smells wonderful and when the holidays are over they make excellent habitats for birds and rabbits in your back yard. Some places use the trees for soil erosion barriers or fish shelters in ponds. Most municipalities will collect old Christmas trees curbside and chip them into mulch. Many places also offer an exchange of a tree seedling for an old Christmas tree–although every Christmas tree harvested gets replanted by the industry. Most tree farms plant one to three trees for every real one cut. Real trees are a renewable resource, biodegradable and recyclable. They’re grown in America and tree farms contribute to the health of our environment.
Some folks argue that the Christmas tree industry is a bad thing, polluting the environment with pesticides and herbicides, but Enviro Girl grows firs and pines on her property and can attest to how hardy a species they are. The amount of chemicals required to grow a “healthy” Christmas tree is pretty minimal when compared to the amount of chemicals the average homeowner sprays on their lawn. And tree farms have a vested interest in NOT using chemicals–or using them as sparingly as possible–because they are cost-prohibitive. Tree farms also provide plenty of habitat for woodland creatures to enjoy–they are more environmentally friendly than a Christmas tree factory.
Fake trees? They’re made out of landfill-clogging polyvinyl chloride (petroleum-based PVC), yet people buy them to the tune of $60.63 a tree in 2008. That added up to a total of $709 million spent on artificial trees last year–paid directly to China, the main manufacturer of faux Tannenbaum full of lead and other unsavory chemicals that come with plastic and vinyl. No one recycles an old artificial tree. Once the branches get broken or bent beyond repair, there’s no recycling or reusing them–they end up on the trash heap alongside everything else headed for the local dump. Artificial trees never “last a lifetime,” disputing any claim that they are somehow gentler on the environment. Fake trees come with packaging, too, adding to their considerable carbon footprint. Perhaps they’re less work and less mess, but they require storing and assembly and leave a pretty huge carbon footprint for something that looks like a tree.
The best choice for an environmentally friendly Christmas tree is a real tree, not a plastic tree, a local tree, not an imported tree. Period. (And there’s no law saying you have to decorate a fresh-cut balsam fir, you can decorate a potted tree of any kind.) And you don’t have to burn any “pine scented candles” to compensate when you have the real deal in your living room!
We love going to the country and cutting a huge tree every year. The farm we buy from is a small family farm and their Christmas tree sales are a huge part of their annual income, so we love supporting them.
After the holidays, we put our tree on the curb and our city collects them all and chops them into mulch that is free for all residents.
How I miss real Christmas trees, but they are just not a viable choice when your Christmas comes in summer.
Ah, poor Mooselet!
I just remembered that I forgot to add something to my comment. For those people who are allergic to pine, there are alternatives. I break out in painful hives when I decorate a pine tree, so instead we get either cypress or a Frasier or Douglas fir and that’s not so bad.
I’ve talked my husband into a real tree (again). The tipping point was this: the pet rabbit will chew on the tree, real or artificial. I’d rather she chew on wood than plastic. Do we really want to look at a bunny-chewed artificial tree for years? Let her “trim” a real one.