12 Days of Christmas: Christmas Trees

Real -vs- fake…  that seems to be the never ending debate during the holidays!  Do you use a real tree or a fake one?  Growing up my family had a mixture of both, but now that I’m on my own, I’ve been using a fake one.  I purchased a real tree a few years back and learned the hard way that my cat thought is was a gift for her…  a new place for her to sleep actually.  After it being knocked over, ornaments and needles everywhere, I swore to switch to the plastic variety.

After attending last week’s NACE meeting and listening to a short presentation from the Michigan Christmas Tree Association I think I may change my mind again and will probably return to buying a real tree for 2010.

I guess I always assumed that a fake tree was ‘greener’ for the environment and sorta figured I was doing my part…  well, the Christmas Tree Association believes otherwise (and I agree, now that I’m aware of the benefits of buying a real tree).  Here are a few of their main points on why choosing a real tree is a better option than a fake one:

• Real Christmas trees help filter dust and smog from the air and help stop soil erosion.
• Christmas trees on a farm produce oxygen – a necessary component of life for people.
• Real Christmas trees provide a comfortable habitat for a wide variety of wildlife.
• After the holidays, Christmas trees can be recycled and used for purpose including bird feeders/shelters, fuel chips and mulch.  Fake trees end up in a landfill.