Which is greener: Buying an artificial tree and putting it up year after year or each year cutting a real tree, putting it up for about a month and then dragging it to the curb?
Industry experts don’t agree.
The National Christmas Tree Association, which promotes the use of real trees, maintains that real trees are greener.
But the American Christmas Tree Association, which was formed this year to provide people with facts to make intelligent decisions about Christmas trees, says artificial trees create a smaller carbon footprint.
In case you’re still out on a limb when it comes to picking an environmentally friendly tree, here are some things to consider:
Artificial trees
-- The majority of artificial trees are produced abroad, primarily in China, which means the trees will have traveled thousands of miles before landing on local store shelves.
-- Artificial trees are made of metal and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic, a petroleum byproduct. The non-biodegradable trees cannot be recycled and end up in the landfill.
-- Artificial trees are reusable. The average tree lasts five to 15 years, depending on use.
Real trees
-- Real trees are grown locally, sometimes on farms that use organic or sustainable methods. Trees are a renewable resource. Most tree farms plant at least one and more often several trees for every one that is cut.
-- Each acre of real trees sequesters carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas) from the air and produces enough oxygen for 18 people each day.
-- Real trees are recyclable and biodegradable, and live trees, with their roots still attached, can be planted after the holidays.
Disagreement
Rick Dungey, a spokesperson for the National Christmas Tree Association, the group that promotes the use of real trees, said it’s “amazing” people haven’t figured out which kind of tree is the greener option.
“It’s a really easy decision, quite frankly,” he said. “It’s always better to use a natural, biodegradable plant grown on a farm here in North America rather than a plastic, non-biodegradable product made in a factory overseas.”
But Thomas Harman, a spokesperson for the American Christmas Tree Association, said a recent study commissioned by the organization says exactly the opposite.
The “cradle-to-grave” study found that a person using an average artificial Christmas tree for 10 years has a smaller carbon footprint than a person using an average farm-grown Christmas tree each year for 10 years.
“The biggest thing that makes the difference is transportation from the point of retail to the consumer’s home,” Harman said.
Artificial trees are shipped overseas and then trucked across the country, he said, and most people don’t drive more than a few miles to purchase an artificial tree. But people who cut down their own tree at tree farms often drive several miles out of town, he said.
“What’s not efficient is you getting in your car to buy your tree,” Harman said. “That’s where the most global warming takes place. Over 10 years, that really starts to add up. And the further you drive … the worse it is for the environment.”
But Dungey said it’s what happens to the tree in the end that’s the kicker.
Even if people reuse an artificial tree for a couple decades, it still will end up in the landfill, he said.
“It’s never going to biodegrade, it’s never going to decompose,” Dungey said. “But every farm-grown tree is biodegradable and turns back into soil.”
Which should you buy?
It all depends on your family traditions, your personal beliefs and your sense of duty to the environment, said Ray Guries, a forest and wildlife ecology professor at UW-Madison.
“We all bring a perspective to it that’s unique,” he said. “Those things do influence a decision, but which ones weigh heaviest is difficult to know.”
Deciding which Christmas tree to buy involves more than just its impact on the environment, Guries said.
“There will be someone who will take exception,” he said. “This is like politics or religion.”