Real Tree or Fake Tree for Christmas?
Christmas is almost here, but you don’t really feel the joy of the holiday season until you put up your Christmas tree and hung up other decorations around the house. This is not only a tradition for many families around the world but also a great opportunity for family members to get closer and make more happy memories together, enjoying the experience of choosing and decorating a Christmas tree. Some families prefer to pick up a live pine tree every year, others might prefer to invest in an artificial one that can be used over and over, but which one is really better?
In this article we will show you the advantages and disadvantages of both types so you can make the best decision for your family this Christmas.
Fake trees:
The first fake tree was invented in the early 1930’s by a company called Addis Brush. It’s a company that basically make toilet scrubbers and brushes. One Christmas, they made a fake tree out of gigantic, green toilet bowl scrubbers! Since their invention, the industry of manufacturing Christmas trees has started and the world became familiar with fake trees.
One of the best advantages of buying a fake tree is cost saving. Once you bought one, you can use it over and over on each Christmas. A fake tree can cost anything between £30 to more than £200 depends on the shape of leaves, colour, size and quality, but you’ll only be paying this amount once and when you take care of it, it can last a decade.
Fake trees come in many shapes, colours and sizes. There are even pre-decorated ones that come with artificial pine cones and berries for example, or integrated LED lights, snow effect or fully white trees.
For people who suffer from seasonal allergies, asthma, or other respiratory problems, fake trees are a major relief. However, when you store your tree and decorations in the garage they might gather some mould and dust that need to be wiped down with a damp cloth before being used the next year.
On the disadvantages side, artificial trees don’t have the fabulous pine smell of live ones. They are also made from PVC plastic, which means they are non-recyclable and non-biodegradable. Once you dispose of your fake tree, it’ll stay in the landfill for centuries! So, if you’re looking for a greener option cutting down a living tree may actually be a better choice.
Real Pine Trees:
For many families, going out searching for the “perfect” real Christmas tree is a fun experience, full of joy and good memories. The real tree will fill up your house with a fabulous pine smell, which is the signature of the holiday season. It will, however, shed a lot of needles on your floor either during the installation phase, decoration, or especially when you take it down after Christmas. You will also need to water it regularly or its leaves will fall even faster than normal.
The top disadvantage of having a real tree is that you need to buy a new one every year. A real tree can cost anything between £20 to more than £200. This can be a financial burden considering that you will be paying this amount every single year, and especially so for families with limited income and the already high cost of Christmas for most folks.
Real pine trees are a host for mould, which can multiply in a warm environment like a centrally heated house. This can trigger an allergic reaction or cause major problems for people suffering from asthma or respiratory problems. You also don’t get as many options as the artificial ones when it comes to colours and pre-decorated trees.
One of the top advantages of live Christmas trees is that they can be recycled and used in making many other materials and products, such as landscaping, paths and walkways. Live pine trees also absorb CO2 and turn it into O2. In fact, one Christmas tree can absorb 1 ton of CO2 during its lifetime and provides enough oxygen for 18 people every day, which help to clean the air and provide a better living conditions for many families. Although it may seem counter-intuitive that cutting a tree down will help the environment, the more the demand for living trees the more will be planted, improving air quality for us all throughout the trees life.
Conclusion:
Artificial trees are an attractive option for families who can’t afford to buy a real tree every year or those who can’t keep up with the high maintenance and cleaning around that a real tree requires due to their busy lifestyle. It’s also the perfect choice for people who suffer from asthma and other respiratory problems allowing them to enjoy the holiday season without going through any allergic reactions. However, for those who can afford it and take care of it, a live Christmas tree is incomparable, starting from the nice smell of pine and the joy of selecting one to the major benefits to the nature and the local farming industry.
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