The same question comes up year after year when it comes to the Holidays and everyone’s desire to have a tree in their home. We are just like everyone else and want to smell that beautiful beautiful scent in our home and boy oh boy are we excited to sweep up those needles (kidding!) but at the end of the day, everyone including our self asks, what is better for the world around us? A real tree we cut ourselves or buy from a local lot? Or a fake piece of plastic garbage you buy at Canadian tire? I may be biased.
In the end though, year after year the answer is always going to be a real tree. The environmental impact of a fake tree will always be negative until they create fake trees out of more sustainable resources. Even if you get a few years out of the tree the impact it has will still be a negative one.
Cutting down trees is always bad for the environment. (False.)
Christmas trees unlike other trees are grown as a crop by farmers. Their sole purpose is to become that gorgeous tree in your living room. They of course have all sorts of other benefits while being grown but their end goal is still to be cut down and used as a Christmas tree. A 5 to 6-foot tree takes about a decade to grow and when cut down is normally replaced by a newly planted tree, hence that is their entire business. Christmas trees are also normally grown in areas such as rolling hills that is unsuitable for other crops.
Of course, not everyone can put up a real tree and that’s ok. If you have the ability to use a real tree then you should do it as it helps offset the individuals who cannot. Every little bit helps.
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