Fact-check: Are real or artificial Christmas trees better for the environment?

[Rhiannon12866]

It’s the annual dilemma... Do you buy an artificial tree that you may or may not reuse or do you get a real one that will for sure be thrown away eventually?

Let’s start with the artificial tree. Nearly 90% of them are shipped across the world from China, according to The Nature Conservancy, a US-based environmental organisation.

These trees are most likely made of polyvinyl chloride or PVC, which produces greenhouse gases when manufactured and is not biodegradable.

In fact, PVC is one of the most difficult plastics to recycle.

According to The Carbon Trust, a two-metre-tall artificial tree produces about 40 kg of carbon dioxide, whereas a similar-sized real Christmas tree, with no roots, creates 3.5 kg CO2 – so more than 10 times less than the artificial one.

But what if you reuse it? You would need about ten to 20 Christmases to keep its environmental impact lower than buying a real tree every year.

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Read more: https://news.yahoo.com/fact-check-real-artificial-christmas-072932651.html

[eShirl]

1. we need biodegradable fake xmas trees

not ones made of plastic
for example, a DIY wire xmas tree can be a family craft project or something

[hlthe2b]

2. Damned depressing; One year I cut down a tree on an approved forest area in the mountains...

Total cost, including gas to pick up two friends in a borrowed 4WD truck, and a chainsaw and travel approximately 50 miles each way... $45.00 and that was when gas prices were at their lowest. Time for all involved was considerable, plus paying for food for all... I'd guess about $125.00 total expenses.

This year, I looked at real trees everywhere from in-town lots to the grocery stores and prices for a 2-foot tree STARTED at $30. For a six-foot tree? $150.00 and up and up and up.

Those very realistic trees likewise start at about $200.00 and go up to over $2k.

One year I paid $$$$ for someone to bring a rooted tree and plant it for me after Christmas. I did absolutely everything recommended to give it the best chance (garaged before and after to help with the rapid change in temps and humidity, timed planting to the optimal time and post-planting careful water/fertilizer/care. Nope. dead in two months.

Yikes... What to do?

[sue4e3]

7. I've done both

for years I got a real tree off a "sustainable" farm. No roots but i believe for every tree they grew and sold they planted one.I stopped doing that when I saw a very large( expensive at one time ) fake one at a second hand road side place , near my home. It's a person who has a fixed income and takes donations from the community to clean up and resale at rock bottom prices. My husband cut the metal to fit our living room. I kept the extra branches as fill in for when it deteriorates. We reused the metal in another holiday project and I am happy with it. I would say give second hand fake trees a chance

[mahatmakanejeeves]

3. Awful graphic

You could probably fit about twenty of those UK real trees into one UK artificial tree, and that’s just based on area, not volume.

Yeah, I know, that’s not the point.

[zeusdogmom]

4. I have an artificial tree

It is 15 years old and still looks great. Figure it will be my tree until I am no longer on this earth. Previous tree was 20 years when it went to the landfill. I know - trash. But it was broken beyond repair. My daughter’s fat cat sat in the branches Cheshire Cat style - pretty much did in the tree. He was awfully cute in the tree and safe from the dog but hard on the tree.

Do I feel some guilt? A little. But my bank account doesn’t mind skipping the annual cost of a fresh tree. Not the hassle that comes with the cleanup. I focus on being good to the earth in many other ways

[Zambero]

5. Have been using one since 2005

When plugged in it looks great, and we don't plan on replacing or disposing of it any time soon. At the time of purchase, little or no consideration was given to materials used in its making, or where it was manufactured. However, looking back on nearly 20 years of use, I would have to think that the "life span", or how many years of use an artificial X-mas tree gets would be a factor in comparing green vs. fake. The duration of year-
to-year re-use would represent a recycling benefit in my estimation, not to mention cost-effectiveness as compared to purchasing or cutting down a fresh tree every holiday season.

[hunter]

6. Turns out I'm ghastly allergic to real trees.

My Christmas health was much improved after we got an artificial tree.

Truth be told, I don't enjoy Christmas. I grew up in a family where none of the adults could agree when, how, or if Christmas should be celebrated. I had one grandma who celebrated the traditional U.S.A. Christmas and in our matriarchal family she usually prevailed.

After my grandma passed away, my dad was the Christmas guy, possibly in honor of his mom, but that was only until my youngest sibling left the nest.

My parent's last Christmas tree, before they moved back to California to live with my brother, was a big piece of driftwood they found on the beach which they then decorated with the prettiest Christmas cards they got, being respectful of those who actually celebrate the holiday. (My mom had always told us, even as young children, that Christmas was a bunch of pagan nonsense. My dad rejected the materialistic aspects of Christmas, which are of course harmful to the natural environment. He'd ask my grandma to buy us practical gifts, which she never did. One Christmas she gave my dad 144 rolls of toilet paper.)

My wife and her family love traditional U.S.A. Christmas.

[caraher]

8. A pretty good take on this