Real vs. Artificial Christmas Trees: Weighing The Factors

Earth911:

The real versus artificial Christmas tree debate replays itself year after year. But the truth is, each option has its own place on the naughty-and-nice list.

Just a few short decades ago, displaying a Christmas tree in your living room really only yielded one option: a real pine or fir tree. That all changed when a U.S.-based toilet bowl brush manufacturer, the Addis Brush Company, created an artificial tree from brush bristles in the 1930s, acting as the prototype for modern artificial trees.

Read the whole story: Earth911

Comments

[JScott]

10:54 AM on 12/06/2011

Some places you can rent a living tree, and if you like it, you can reserve it for next year, when they get too big for houses then they plant them, they deliver and pick it up, you don't have to worry about disposal etc.

[Yam716]

04:29 PM on 12/06/2011

That seems very environmentally responsible.

[Just4theHalibut]

04:11 PM on 12/05/2011

Seems like it depends where you live. Here in W. Oregon where every other hillside sports a tree farm (although many are being replanted with grapes) you can get a nice doug fir for $10 on the corner tree lot. In January I cut it up and use it for mulch, then in spring, remnants go in yard trash to a compost facility. I am curious if there is any data about safety with real vs. artificial.
Would assume former might instigate more fires than latter, but I could be wrong.

[CASnyder]

10:52 PM on 12/04/2011

The best environmental solutions weren't mentioned in the article:
1. buy a second hand artificial tree and save someone's cast off from ending up in the landfill - all the benefits plus coming from your hometown.
2. buy a real tree that's not cut but balled and burlaped for replanting in spring - its a challenge to keep it healthy until then, but can be done.
3. post child-rearing years, you may not need a tree at all, you can decorate with cut boughs from live trees that are still living - maybe even from your own yard. Needles from boughs are much easier contained/ cleaned up, if you plan ahead.

[Shnnnkirk]

07:54 PM on 12/04/2011

Artificial tree for me. I have 3 kids& I use the same tree each year and spend the real tree money on gifts.

[HLL]

03:45 PM on 12/05/2011

Very sensible. Fan #1 ;-)

[mothergrace]

07:48 PM on 12/04/2011

Or you can kill three birds with one stone if you live in Marin County, CA. Monterey pines are an invasive species so park officials are inviting people to come in and cut down a free tree.

Free, free invasive species removal, trees that would be removed anyway. If you mulch and not burn, a fourth bird for carbon sequestration.

[onwisconsin]

07:44 PM on 12/04/2011

We have allergies. We want a tree. Therefore, we have a very nice artificial tree that will probably last us for the rest of our years.

[elizabethwhite]

03:05 PM on 12/04/2011

I prefer not to kill any life (plants are life too) unless I need to do so to live myself. For example, I eat meat, fish and vegetables to eat, and I occasionally kill bugs to keep my house hygienic, but I do not buy a real Christmas tree. I grow one in our yard and decorate it in Christmas seasons. It feels good to think that the tree is alive and can share the moment with family.

[ThinkCreeps]

02:15 PM on 12/04/2011

Humbug. Sit in the dark.

[HLL]

03:44 PM on 12/05/2011

LOL!!  Thank you, Mr. Scrooge ;-)

[ThinkCreeps]

03:48 PM on 12/05/2011

Baah. Where is that damnable Mr Crachett?