Researchers at OSU say buying a real tree during the holidays is better for the environment and the economy. What do you think?
Do you prefer a real or fake tree during the holidays?
19 Comments
Brent Walton said:
We used to use real trees, but my wife suffered terrible headaches every Christmas. So we switched to fake trees, the headaches went away. We attribute it to allergies she has to mold and spores brought into the home on live trees.
James said:
Of course OSU is going to say that... Most trees come from Oregon. That's like having a study funded by Big Tobacco, and they say smoking is healthy. Who really cares about real trees vs fake trees. Put some real news on here!
Harry Lambdin said:
We have bought an artificial tree for 18 to 20 years, now. Not only does it save new growth, but getting rid of the tree, after Christmas, is a bad thing for the environment. All that carbon from trees, that are burned, is released, into the atmosephere.
Thank you for your time.
Regards, Harry
Aly Wunder said:
About 15 years ago I bought a fake tree and have put it up every year since. Being a single parent, the cost of the tree type that we always had was 75 to 100 dollars. So i wnt and bought a very tiny fake tree at the dollar store. Which we used that year. After the holiday was over I watched for sales on the fake type. I found a great tree for 19.99 at a store that was going out of business and have used ever since. I do go to a friends and prune a few boughs, for the smell. But when it came to the choice I really had none... Real tree? or Presents and Food?
Like I said no choice... Aly
Angela in Bothell said:
We had always bought a fresh tree every year, but the price was becoming a burden even when we waited almost until Christmas with the markdowns that happen as the lots try to move their last few trees. Last year we waited too late; when we went to our favorite lot, the trailer was dark and locked, and only 2 trees remained and no way to pay for them. As we had bought from this fellow for 10 years, we left an IOU, took one tree (tagged $80) and left. We went back several times, trying to pay....nobody was there. Somebody else took the other tree and left no IOU.
A month later, the lot guy sent us a bill for a non-discounted $80...and a grouchy note. I paid it, but I still don't know why he didn't even say 'thanks'. A little friendly customer service might have prevented what happened next:
After Christmas, we bought a very lovely pre-lit artificial tree at Ben Franklin at 75% off. My husband misses the smell. I'm not going to miss the needles...or the yearly expense...or the fire hazard.
erv said:
one year when i was a kid our dad decided "ok" we will put up a tree this year so we went out in the woods and found one and put it up. then dad went to town, so then me and my brothers sat back with a BB gun and shot all the lights out. that was pretty much it for the tree idea. it seems the whole idea of christmas has been over shadowed by the sale at the mall. put up a fake tree at the airport and see if somebody sues because they cant have some other decoration up. its a big fun time for the kids but its a holiday i can do with out.
DJ said:
We always put up an artifical tree. We have severe allergies and asthsma, and there is no way we could have a real tree. It is all I have ever known, and I am perfectly okay with it. We can put it up whenever we want, and when we are done we put it back in the attic until next year. It definitely beats spending time in the hospital or possibly worse!
Adrian said:
Ain't that funny, good for people to cut down trees for the holidays - yet bad if the bears chew on them a bit, sump'n sounds fuzzy here or are we just getting flock'd?...
Rachelle said:
If everyone bought a new fake tree every year or so, then I guess the real ones would be better for the environment (since the real ones decompose as waste). BUT most people that buy fake ones keep them for many years. I love having a real tree, but we have a fake one and will always have a fake one. My daughter has asthma, and the real ones make her sick. When the time comes for us to get a new fake tree, we will donate the old one to another family or location that will use it so that it does not wind up in the landfill.
Harold Olsen said:
Nothing beats a real tree. However, artificial Christmas trees are reusable. You can use the same tree year after year.
I doubt that the treehuggers would agree that using real trees is better for the environment. They'd probably say just the opposite.
When I was real small, my parents always bought a real tree. Why not? They were only two or three dollars. Then, when the price of trees started geting higher , by dad decided on an aluminum tree. I hated it. It was in the shape of a tree but it didn't look much like a tree.
Angela in Bothell said:
Aw, please. For every real tree cut down, then collected by the boy scouts to compost, or thrown off the side of the road to eventually decompose (who burns christmas trees? And if they do, how does this differ from burning any other wood?)...a Christmas tree farm plants ANOTHER tree. Even if one must worry about 'carbon released into the atmosphere' (and I don't - carbon is a natural element and our earth is quite capable of handling things like wood-smoke - ), wouldn't all those new trees off-set and sequester it....??
--------------------------------------------------
Please. Please. Go and read http://www.idahoforests.org/fires3.htm
--------------------------------------------------
about all the massive, world-ending forest fires that have CERTAINLY released more carbon into the atmosphere than any number of Christmas trees being burned....and the world has not come to an end. Indeed, the fire season of 1910 (a hundred YEARS ago) was a result of a drought as catastrophic as anything going on right now, and all without Climate Change or Global Warming to blame.
How about thinking of it this way: Buy a fresh-cut Christmas tree if you can. Support the livelihood of small farmers who are probably suffering in this economy just like everybody else.
Miss Daisy said:
We've always had real trees.....for 26 years. But last year we bought a fake tree because the price of real was getting more and more. Now it is a good thing that we bought the fake last year because my husband lost his job. So even though there won't be much under it, we'll at least have a tree. But I do miss the scent of a live tree.
Brian from Tri-Cities said:
We have a fake tree that we have had for about 4 years now. I prefer fake trees to real ones for several reasons:
1. I don't have to go to a tree lot and buy one every year, thus saving us money in the long run;
2. I never have to water it to keep it green; and
3. No needles to clean up.
daisy dogg said:
We just hang a picture of a christmas tree on the wall, but light it up a lamp with red green or blue lightbulbs- the 100 watters are best - that we painted with recycled house paint.
Brian said:
Fake is the way to go. How can buying a real tree help the enviornment more so than the fake tree? In order to produce 1 real tree takes a period of years, in which it has to be watered, fertilized & kept weed free(typically these products are derived from petrochemicals), harvested, and finally shipped. All this is done using moterized vehicles which consume fossil feules & add to the growing green house gasses, not to mention the amount of land that has to be deddicated to thier growth. I can see how this adds to the economy of the regions where trees are grown, through wages and the purchase of production products. But overall it costs more to produce 1 real tree than it does to produce 1 fake tree. A fake tree is reused, a real tree has to be disposed of ( at a cost usually) adding to the already staggering waste generated by christmas. Finally more house fires are a direct result of real trees each year than fake trees over 10 years.
Quinn said:
Yes, use a real tree... but the Beavers suck!!
GO DUCKS!
Ed said:
They are not fake.
They are hand crafted.
Frank said:
If you're worried about the price of a real Christmas tree, go to Lewis County. We bought 3 noble firs for $20, 7 footers. There are lots of Christmas tree farms in Lewis county. I went to craigs-list Olympia and found a couple tree farms listed. Any size tree $15-$20. We live in Lewis county and have always bought from a tree farm. Of course live trees help the environment.
Save the Trees said:
Do you people have any idea the amount of x-mas trees that go unsold and end up thrown away?? Well let me fill you in, it's in the hundreds of thousands across the country. What a freakin waste!! Where o where in your Bible does it mention killing trees and decorating them for God?? NOWHERE!!
Sure they smell nice for a week or two, but then they quit drinking water and dry out and you have needles everwhere. It is every patriotic American's duty to buy a fake tree and keep it for the long haul. It is anti-enviornment and un Christian to keep on killing trees and throwing them away, it makes no sense! We are killing hundreds of thousands more than are being used...WISE UP AND STOP USELESS WASTE!
We used to use real trees, but my wife suffered terrible headaches every Christmas. So we switched to fake trees, the headaches went away. We attribute it to allergies she has to mold and spores brought into the home on live trees.
Of course OSU is going to say that... Most trees come from Oregon. That's like having a study funded by Big Tobacco, and they say smoking is healthy. Who really cares about real trees vs fake trees. Put some real news on here!
We have bought an artificial tree for 18 to 20 years, now. Not only does it save new growth, but getting rid of the tree, after Christmas, is a bad thing for the environment. All that carbon from trees, that are burned, is released, into the atmosephere.
Thank you for your time.
Regards, Harry
About 15 years ago I bought a fake tree and have put it up every year since. Being a single parent, the cost of the tree type that we always had was 75 to 100 dollars. So i wnt and bought a very tiny fake tree at the dollar store. Which we used that year. After the holiday was over I watched for sales on the fake type. I found a great tree for 19.99 at a store that was going out of business and have used ever since. I do go to a friends and prune a few boughs, for the smell. But when it came to the choice I really had none... Real tree? or Presents and Food?
Like I said no choice... Aly
We had always bought a fresh tree every year, but the price was becoming a burden even when we waited almost until Christmas with the markdowns that happen as the lots try to move their last few trees. Last year we waited too late; when we went to our favorite lot, the trailer was dark and locked, and only 2 trees remained and no way to pay for them. As we had bought from this fellow for 10 years, we left an IOU, took one tree (tagged $80) and left. We went back several times, trying to pay....nobody was there. Somebody else took the other tree and left no IOU.
A month later, the lot guy sent us a bill for a non-discounted $80...and a grouchy note. I paid it, but I still don't know why he didn't even say 'thanks'. A little friendly customer service might have prevented what happened next:
After Christmas, we bought a very lovely pre-lit artificial tree at Ben Franklin at 75% off. My husband misses the smell. I'm not going to miss the needles...or the yearly expense...or the fire hazard.
one year when i was a kid our dad decided "ok" we will put up a tree this year so we went out in the woods and found one and put it up. then dad went to town, so then me and my brothers sat back with a BB gun and shot all the lights out. that was pretty much it for the tree idea. it seems the whole idea of christmas has been over shadowed by the sale at the mall. put up a fake tree at the airport and see if somebody sues because they cant have some other decoration up. its a big fun time for the kids but its a holiday i can do with out.
We always put up an artifical tree. We have severe allergies and asthsma, and there is no way we could have a real tree. It is all I have ever known, and I am perfectly okay with it. We can put it up whenever we want, and when we are done we put it back in the attic until next year. It definitely beats spending time in the hospital or possibly worse!
Ain't that funny, good for people to cut down trees for the holidays - yet bad if the bears chew on them a bit, sump'n sounds fuzzy here or are we just getting flock'd?...
If everyone bought a new fake tree every year or so, then I guess the real ones would be better for the environment (since the real ones decompose as waste). BUT most people that buy fake ones keep them for many years. I love having a real tree, but we have a fake one and will always have a fake one. My daughter has asthma, and the real ones make her sick. When the time comes for us to get a new fake tree, we will donate the old one to another family or location that will use it so that it does not wind up in the landfill.
Nothing beats a real tree. However, artificial Christmas trees are reusable. You can use the same tree year after year.
I doubt that the treehuggers would agree that using real trees is better for the environment. They'd probably say just the opposite.
When I was real small, my parents always bought a real tree. Why not? They were only two or three dollars. Then, when the price of trees started geting higher , by dad decided on an aluminum tree. I hated it. It was in the shape of a tree but it didn't look much like a tree.
Aw, please. For every real tree cut down, then collected by the boy scouts to compost, or thrown off the side of the road to eventually decompose (who burns christmas trees? And if they do, how does this differ from burning any other wood?)...a Christmas tree farm plants ANOTHER tree. Even if one must worry about 'carbon released into the atmosphere' (and I don't - carbon is a natural element and our earth is quite capable of handling things like wood-smoke - ), wouldn't all those new trees off-set and sequester it....??
--------------------------------------------------
Please. Please. Go and read http://www.idahoforests.org/fires3.htm
--------------------------------------------------
about all the massive, world-ending forest fires that have CERTAINLY released more carbon into the atmosphere than any number of Christmas trees being burned....and the world has not come to an end. Indeed, the fire season of 1910 (a hundred YEARS ago) was a result of a drought as catastrophic as anything going on right now, and all without Climate Change or Global Warming to blame.
How about thinking of it this way: Buy a fresh-cut Christmas tree if you can. Support the livelihood of small farmers who are probably suffering in this economy just like everybody else.
We've always had real trees.....for 26 years. But last year we bought a fake tree because the price of real was getting more and more. Now it is a good thing that we bought the fake last year because my husband lost his job. So even though there won't be much under it, we'll at least have a tree. But I do miss the scent of a live tree.
We have a fake tree that we have had for about 4 years now. I prefer fake trees to real ones for several reasons:
1. I don't have to go to a tree lot and buy one every year, thus saving us money in the long run;
2. I never have to water it to keep it green; and
3. No needles to clean up.
We just hang a picture of a christmas tree on the wall, but light it up a lamp with red green or blue lightbulbs- the 100 watters are best - that we painted with recycled house paint.
Fake is the way to go. How can buying a real tree help the enviornment more so than the fake tree? In order to produce 1 real tree takes a period of years, in which it has to be watered, fertilized & kept weed free(typically these products are derived from petrochemicals), harvested, and finally shipped. All this is done using moterized vehicles which consume fossil feules & add to the growing green house gasses, not to mention the amount of land that has to be deddicated to thier growth. I can see how this adds to the economy of the regions where trees are grown, through wages and the purchase of production products. But overall it costs more to produce 1 real tree than it does to produce 1 fake tree. A fake tree is reused, a real tree has to be disposed of ( at a cost usually) adding to the already staggering waste generated by christmas. Finally more house fires are a direct result of real trees each year than fake trees over 10 years.
Yes, use a real tree... but the Beavers suck!!
GO DUCKS!
They are not fake.
They are hand crafted.
If you're worried about the price of a real Christmas tree, go to Lewis County. We bought 3 noble firs for $20, 7 footers. There are lots of Christmas tree farms in Lewis county. I went to craigs-list Olympia and found a couple tree farms listed. Any size tree $15-$20. We live in Lewis county and have always bought from a tree farm. Of course live trees help the environment.
Do you people have any idea the amount of x-mas trees that go unsold and end up thrown away?? Well let me fill you in, it's in the hundreds of thousands across the country. What a freakin waste!! Where o where in your Bible does it mention killing trees and decorating them for God?? NOWHERE!!
Sure they smell nice for a week or two, but then they quit drinking water and dry out and you have needles everwhere. It is every patriotic American's duty to buy a fake tree and keep it for the long haul. It is anti-enviornment and un Christian to keep on killing trees and throwing them away, it makes no sense! We are killing hundreds of thousands more than are being used...WISE UP AND STOP USELESS WASTE!