Real vs Fake
Courtesy of Bryan Davis
Each holiday season, there are news articles, web sites and commentators who debate whether it is better for the environment to use an artificial Christmas tree or a natural Christmas tree. This can often be confusing to consumers who want to make an eco-friendly choice, but can’t find a simple, straight-forward “apples to apples” comparison. The table below illustrates that Real Christmas Trees are the best environmental choice.
Real Trees vs. Artificial Trees
| Real Trees | Artificial Trees | |
| Place of Origin | United States – Creating over 100,000 US Jobs | 85% from China |
| Method of Production | Farming | Factory |
| Planting January-May | Raw materials sent to factory & assembled into final product | |
| Estimate 40-45 Million Trees planted in 2008 in North America | Product is shipped to US then Distributed to Stores | |
| Estimated 446 Million trees growing on Farms in US | Number of factories unknown | |
| Tree farms support Complex Eco-System | Factories only consume natural resource | |
| Components | Plant Tissue | Plastic and Metal |
| 100% biodegradable | Non-biodegradable | |
| PVS FREE? | Yes | NO |
| Lead FREE? | Yes | No (lead is used in the process of making PVC Plastics) |
| When decomposing, carbon, nitrogen and other elements are released into the soil | Doesn’t break down | |
| Chemicals | No | YES |
| Scientist have measured cut Christmas trees for chemical residue and not found any significant amounts | PVC itself is a dangerous chemical. | |
| Disposal | Recycled | Landfill |
| Used trees can be recycled in a variety of ways | Fake trees can’t be recycled and end up in Landfills | |
| Decomposing trees add nutrients back into the earth | All of the accumulated fake trees are a burden to the environment indefinitely | |
| Renewable Resource | YES | NO |
| New trees are planted every year | Petroleum, used to make plastic, is a non-renewable resource, as are metals | |
| Eco-Friendly | Yes | NO |
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