Bradford County Conservation District
  • Home
  • About
  • Resources
  • Blog
  • Events
  • Contact

CONSERVATION CORNER

A weekly blog for all things conservation

Real Vs. Artificial Christmas Tree- Which is Better for the Environment?

12/27/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture
By Dan Rhodes, Education Coordinator
 At first glance, coming up with the correct answer to this question might seem easier than Babe Ruth hitting a home run in the Little League World Series. Like many environmental questions though, this question is more complicated than it appears. For many Americans this Christmas, choosing to buy an artificial tree instead of a real tree, is in their minds, just one more way they can do their part in helping to use natural resources wisely. But is that decision better for the environment? The answer might surprise you.

​First off, when attempting to make an ‘apples to apples’ comparison on the environmental impacts of a certain product, one must look at the impacts across the ENTIRE production process, not just the impacts at the end of line. If a product is made of metal, plastic, or contains electrical components or batteries, it is important to ask where the components were mined, processed, and assembled. Generally speaking, mining and processing metals and/or other minerals such as iron, copper, lithium, cobalt, aluminum, nickel, etc….takes a LOT of energy! Energy that is almost always not renewable and a cause of pollution. Nearly all plastics also, are made from petroleum products mined and extracted from deep within the Earth.
Manufacturing products from raw materials in distant countries without environmental or labor laws in place, also increases the ‘built in’ pollution of a product dramatically; especially when one counts the energy consumption involved with shipping a product around the world to sell it in a store near you. To put this impact in perspective, roughly 85% of every artificial Christmas tree sold in the US today is manufactured in China (roughly 7,000 miles from the eastern United States). To really estimate the long-term impact a product has on the environment, one must also look at the product’s impact once it is used up, breaks down and is thrown away. Can it be recycled, or does it need to go to a landfill? Will the product decompose in a relatively short period of time or will it sit for centuries, and possibly leak toxic substances into the soil and water? 
Unlike the artificial variety, real Christmas trees require virtually no energy to grow, since the mining, transportation, and manufacturing of many different raw materials associated with the artificial trees is eliminated. Artificial trees also contribute to a variety of soil, water, air, and human health problems while live Christmas trees are directly responsible for massive positive environmental and health benefits. Energy used to transport the live trees to market is minimal because the trees don’t usually have to come from very far away. Out of the estimated 350,000 acres of Christmas tree farm plantings in the US today, huge benefits to water quality, air quality, soil stabilization, reduced flooding risks, and wildlife habitat are realized. For every live Christmas tree that is harvested, at least two more are planted. This ensures a never-ending supply of future crop trees that keep wild forests from being cut. Once a live Christmas tree’s job is done for the season, it can also be recycled into a variety of healthy, beneficial, and biodegradable products, including everything from underwater fish habitat structures to tree and garden mulch. In comparison, once thrown out, artificial trees sit in landfills leaking toxic substances into the environment for indefinite periods of time.
For all these reasons and many more, please consider purchasing a live Christmas tree to support the estimated 100,000 US workers that rely on live Christmas tree sales for their annual income, and for the substantial environmental benefits a live Christmas tree can provide!
From everyone here at the Bradford County Conservation District, we hope you have a very Merry Christmas!      
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Authors

    Various staff at the Bradford County Conservation District

    Archives

    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    Agriculture
    Chapter 102
    Chapter 105
    Community
    Conservation Planning
    County Initiative
    Cover Crop
    DGLVR
    Earth Day
    Education
    Energy
    Events
    Farmland Preservation
    Floodplain
    Forest Pests
    Forestry
    Grazing
    Home & Garden
    Interseeder
    Manure Management
    Native Species
    No Till Garden
    Nutrient Management
    Outreach
    Permitting
    Pollinators
    Ponds
    Riparian Buffer
    Scholarship
    Soil Health
    Storm Water
    Stream Crossings
    Streams
    Watershed
    Wildlife

Picture
Bradford County Conservation District
Stoll Natural Resource Center
200 Lake Road, Suite E | Towanda PA 18848
Phone: (570)-485-3144

Find Us on Social Media!
  • Home
  • About
  • Resources
  • Blog
  • Events
  • Contact