Going green or Christmas trees?

Question

Planting a tree is one of the best things you can do in going "Green". So what does that say about Christmas tree harvesting?

Answer 1

If you want an artificial tree, made by oil based products,that's your choice.  I prefer the live ones, raised as a crop (just like any other crop).  Then, I bring them into the woods to be "re-used" by woodland creatures for their homes.  You couldn't do that with a plastic (ozone depleting) tree.

Answer 2

I personally think that there should be a night where everyone in seattle, tacoma etc, meet in certain places, and instead of cutting down Christmas trees, planting trees, and picking up litter and stuff, kinda like an Earth Day fir Christmas.  People are so careless when it comes to recycling and stuff it isn't that hard.   Although the Christmas tree has been a long lasting tradition, it is time for a change, and stop cutting them down. We need them to live, so i say don't have a real Christmas Tree.

Answer 3

Oh just get a tree, it doesn't matter. We plant the trees for the purpose of harvesting them.

And did you know that, annually, decaying plant matter gives off much more CO2 than people do (not that it matters anyways)?

Answer 4

I thing one of the best results will be if the people realise during to make the christmas happy with a beautiful christmas tree they are damaging the nature and should do something!:) for example buy a live tree just in a pot...:)

Answer 5

I like to cut down about six or seven of them, and then bring them home and talk it over with my wife, and then pick from those.  She usually doesn't like any of them, so we go and buy one that just came off the logging truck.

Just kidding.  Come on.  I would suggest stopping the tree-hugging nag.  Christmas is a tradition, and part of that is getting a tree.  Part of the tree ordeal is to have an actual live tree that smells good, and lifts your spirits during the Christmas season.  I can't wait to get mine.  We will probably get ours soon.

Answer 6

There is actually a "green tree" that you decorate while in a pot, and then take decorations off and plant it.

Answer 7

Christmas trees are made for the purpose of just being christmas trees. They produce oxygen and take carbon out of the air. Then when it is time to get rid of the tree you can take it to a recycling place where it gets turn into compost to fertilize soil. Animals don't depend on Christmas trees. The plastic trees are made up of harmful things and take a lot of energy to create, putting the bad carbon and other pollutants in the air. You can't really recycle plastic because it actually takes more energy to recycle it than it is to make plastic. So it is good you are reusing your fake tree : ) . It is a personal choice whether you will buy real trees or reuse fake trees either way it is not particulary harmful.

Answer 8

Christmas trees are just a cash crop. If you buy a native tree with roots you can plant it outside. If you recycle a cut Christmas Tree then it is chipped for mulch. If you buy an artificial tree and reuse it for many years (my mother in law has had hers since the 1960s) then I can not see that it makes much difference.

There are much more important things you can do to go green at Christmas, do these big things that take least effort and make most positive change then relax and enjoy the festive season.

Answer 9

I always have a cut tree. I love the fresh smell of it, and cut trees are a renewable resource. They are farmed like any commodity. After Christmas, I usually take my cut tree outside and decorate it with edibles for the birds, and when spring comes, it goes on the brush pile at the edge of my woods and helps provide cover for wildlife. I also have taken my old tree, cut off the limbs, and made a walking stick out of the trunk. It is wood, after all, and can be used for many things. In my area, they are picked up after Christmas and taken to the city shredder where they are made into mulch that is available by the pickup load for your garden. Also the conservation department picks them up to sink in the lakes to provide fishing habitat.  You may use your artificial tree every year, but it takes manufacturing to make it, and that causes pollution, and when you need a new one, your old one is not recycleable. So you are actually "going green" to buy a cut tree. Planting a tree also a good thing, do it every chance you get.

Answer 10

Artificial trees are more harmful.  making them creates waste.  Real Christmas trees will decompose and feed the soil which will feed the trees.  Circle of life.

Answer 11

They also have living trees that are absolutely wonderful. We buy them every year, use them and then drive out to the forest to plant them. :)

Answer 12

Sounds like a lot of work.

Answer 13

I have an artificial tree which I have been re-using for 30 years.  But I would not feel bad about buying a live tree produced in a sustainable way, organically.  The carbon dioxide given off when the tree died would be balanced by the carbon dioxide absorbed as it grew.  The carbon dioxide emitted in planting and transporting would be the only damage and the alternatives would be similar in their effect.

Incidentally planting a tree is great but cutting back on buying stuff is even better.

Best wishes