Real or Artificial Tree: Is it Even Worth Considering?

This debate has been running for a while in our house - I'm glad it's now resolved; just a shame I was wrong!

This is a topic I've been thinking about more this year and would love to see more arguments for either side. I've heard that the tree farms are good for keeping land in natural use too. I think its a shame to kill a perfectly happy tree just to throw a bunch of presents under it and then unceremoniously toss it out back a week later. I understand the life of a tree rates pretty low on most peoples lists but I'm hoping for some understanding here as we are treehuggers. I like the idea of people decorating a live tree but I'm happier with no tree at all. I don't think the masses will have outdoor trees or no tree in the near future so I generally keep my opinion to myself lest I be labeled a scrooge.

I realize that my family is not the standard but we have had our artificial christmas tree for 20 years and I am sure it has at least another 5 or 10 in it. We often receive comments about how its amazing that we keep our carpet so clean as there are no needles on the floor, thats when we tell people that is a fake tree. So maybe buying a quality tree is also an option instead of one of the many terrible fake trees out there.
My last comment is about how comprehensive was the study. When people have a real tree there is the need to water it (this is not much water but when all trees are added up it can be a large amount), as well was the impact of the extra vaccuming and cleaning due to the needles on the tree calculated.

Hmm, my parents kept the same artificial tree in excess of 20 years, so they came out ahead. I think the annual tradition of assembling the 100-piece tree may even have had some influence on me eventually becoming an engineer. Looked great for the first decade and a half, but then pieces kept breaking off as the plastic embrittled. They finally tossed it when it started resembling the Charlie Brown christmas tree, although some pieces live on as miniature pine trees on my father's model railroad.

Our yard is heavily wooded and I need to take down the occasional pine to keep things relatively open, and maintain the balance among the evergreens, hardwoods, and ground cover (like ferns).

A wild white pine looks really scraggly indoors, but heck a Charlie Brown tree has some real character. I did it last year but was voted down this year.

My question: was that a zero carbon tree?

TH

It's just another crop right? I mean, we don't ask ourselves whether natural or artificial sweetners are better for the environment...we just dump them in our coffee.

I think that, just because it's something we only do once a year, we want to put a special amount of significance on it. But the truth is...it's not significant.

Corn syrup and sugar cane have a GIGANTIC environmental impact, and we don't consider it, because drinking soda or coffee is so quotidian. Christmas trees have a relatively tiny impact.

I'm not sure why it's so hard to keep focus on the stuff that actually matters, like insulating homes, not eating meat and generating renewable electricity.

well if your like me and are allergic to trees you really don't have an option.

Another thing you have to keep in mind is the economic impact of these trees. I lived for a long time in Boone, NC, where Christmas tree farms make up a LARGE portion of the local economy. In fact, north carolina is one of the largest christmas tree producers in the world. Without this important source of income, many family businesses and small communities would just collapse.

If you don't like the idea of cutting down a tree just to discard it, drag it out to a corner of your yard. There its needles and branches can serve as a windbreak and winter refuge for birds and small animals.

A real tree is not an option in my house, too many allergies.

We haven't put up a tree at all in over 6 years.

Why just skip the tree (real or artificial) altogether. I dont use a tree and celebrate my Christmas just fine.

Our artificial tree and all its decorations are hand me downs from the previous tenant, so we're giving this tiny tree a longer life. I'm sure whenever we leave the country we'll pass it along to someone else.

I've wondered if a really large container on wheels for a potted Christmas tree would be an alternative, then wheel it out on the patio after the season.

How large of a pot would be required for an ~6' tree?

There's definitely some good notes here in the article and the comments concerning climate change and economics, but conservation hasn't been addressed. I'm not sure what type of land tree farmers typically use in Boone, NC (as "ok" mentioned above) but in/around Sparta, thousands of acres of diverse forest and wildlife habitat are being clear cut to make way for christmas tree farms. It isn't clear to me whether it's taken into account in the article, however, this has effects not just on carbon emissions, but the clearing causes problems with erosion, and introduces more storm runoff and sediment into rivers and streams. Additionally, wildlife habitat is adversely affected and it takes many seasons of tree growth to be supportive of those species which are most adaptable to pine forests...and shortly after those trees finally do grow enough to support the habitat, they're cut down again.

When christmas tree farming includes an act of repurposing land that was previously used for other unsustainable ecomonic uses, the results are more advantageous to the environment than not. However, knowing that these forests are clear cut to make way for these farms, it brings forth feelings of guilt in me when we consider getting our christmas trees every year.