There is a constant debate between Real and artificial Christmas trees. Today, most people utilize natural trees for Christmas; however, are the artificial ones good to use? The following is a brief discussion on real vs. artificial Christmas trees.
Real Christmas trees:
The living Christmas trees are evergreen conifers always, for example, pine, spruce, or fir. Living trees are usually developed as a yield, and after their cut, they are replanted in rotation, regularly giving appropriate natural surroundings to wildlife. While managing them poorly can result in poor habitat and soil degradation, Christmas trees’ plantations are by and large friendly habitats. Another downside to living trees is that you use them for a brief timeframe before discarding them.
Tragically, though they are biodegradable and also can be recycled, Christmas trees are at times essentially discarded. Nonetheless, numerous of them are being reused to be utilized as mulch or to forestall disintegration. Real trees are additionally neutral to carbon, though outflows can happen from cultivating exercises and transportation. They are likewise more costly than artificial trees since you need to buy a new one every year.
The merits of a living Christmas tree:
- Natural and synthetic materials are used in the living trees.
- These trees have a pleasant, woodsy smell, which leaves a charming effect throughout the whole season.
- One incredible custom is the hunting for Christmas tree, which the family can enjoy each year, whether it is only an excursion to the tree part and not the forested areas.
- One extraordinary method to help local organizations and backing ranchers in the US is by buying living trees.
- No gathering is needed to set up a real Christmas tree. Pop it in a stand, and it’s prepared to design!
- It’s possible to destroy the living Christmas trees towards the end of the holiday season, and they don’t need to be stored in the loft, carport, or storm cellar. It’s less of a mess for the families, and hence there is no time wastage with them.
The demerits with a living tree:
- While you invest something for an artificial tree that you can utilize every year, the living trees are useful for only one season. Whenever you invest in a new tree every year, it accumulates after some time and could be costly compared to the artificial ones.
- Based on the atmosphere in your general vicinity, the living trees may not keep going up to the artificial ones. At times real trees just last half a month, while you can keep an old one for a long time.
- Unlike the artificial trees, which after setting them up, you’ll forget, you need to care more for real trees. You must water them regularly and ensure they are maintained well.
- Since the leaves and the needles of a living tree dry out, the mix with heat from the lights turns into a possible fire risk in the house.
- For those having allergies, a real tree can pose problems, and your entire holiday season could be spoiled with sniffling and sneezing.
- You might need to visit the dump to clear the living tree if your trash collector isn’t picking it.
Artificial Christmas Trees:
These trees are artificial trees explicitly fabricated to be utilized as trees for the holidays.
A few ones are created using PVC, yet you should realize there are more innovative options. The fake trees, somehow or the other, can damage the climate more than the living trees. Simply put, the possibility of artificial trees being friendly to the environment is nothing but a fantasy.
The effects of artificial and natural are nearly the equivalent, with the fake ones being somewhat more awful. It’s due to the PVC material. PVC (polyvinyl chloride) is a plastic (petroleum-derived), the main material used in creating fake trees is non-renewable and polluting, and you can’t reuse it. Also, PVC material brings about the hazardous discharge of various cancer-causing agents, for example, vinyl chloride, ethylene dichloride, and dioxin.
Additionally, to create real needles, lead is as often as possible used. As we know, lead has various significant negative wellbeing impacts, such as vinyl chloride kidney, neurological, and regenerative framework damages. Hence, when the tree gets in touch with your face, especially, it can be hazardous. Likewise, when you vacuum encircling the tree, small particles of lead can spread in the air, leading to breathing issues.
The merits:
- Using artificial trees is simple. You just need to set up those, and they look great for a long time. When the special seasons are finished, simply store them for the next season.
- With artificial trees, you can save a lot over the years.
- There’s no wreck—needles won’t drop, you won’t need watering them, no pests, etc.
Cons:
- You can’t recycle these trees. Produced using PVC, these are non-biodegradable and petroleum-based plastics that are harmful to nature.
- Numerous such trees, in fact, most of them, are made abroad.
- There is a risk of fire with artificial trees, as well. There are a few news reports of pre-lit, artificial trees that have burst into flames because of a blast that begins in the tree’s firebox at the tree’s base.
Conclusion:
To determine whether real or artificial trees are better is an unrealistic affair. If you are willing to celebrate green Christmas and negate the things that affect the environment, it’s better not to buy any tree. You can decorate your house; possibly get some other accessories for decoration, but not a tree. Still, if you want to maintain your custom and buy yourself a Christmas tree, here is the verdict:
Whether living or artificial, both trees are harmful to the environment. Most of us don’t have the foggiest idea; however, artificial trees’ risk to the environment is marginally bigger, requiring more energy to deliver, lead to contamination, and posture potential well being risks. Whether they are reused after that and have a more modest carbon impression, chopping down natural trees is exploitative, and you would have a lot bigger ecological reward if you essentially let them develop. You would improve natural surroundings, better landscapes, more carbon sequestration, etc. This is the thing that science says… the choice is yours. Pick smartly!