Where do you suppose the tree huggers weigh in on Christmas Trees?

[crispy]

Real

Pro - renewable
Con- its a LIVE tree!


Artificial

Pro - it doesn't kill a live tree
Con- made from petroleum products

[Kid_Charlemange]

Don't know, but I found this article this morning that has a unique way of dealing with old Xmas trees...

Link

[Indy-hp]

I don't know how the tree huggers view it, but I'm moderately green and see it as a renewable resource and no problem for the environment. They are grown on tree farms for the express purpose of cutting them down for Christmas trees.

As for disposal, most communities now have some type of recylcing program for them so they don't clog up the local landfill. Here we chip them for garden mulch and use them on the Gulf coast to create dunes to protect beach houses fom storm surges by trapping wind-blown sand. Pretty ingenious, really.

[MichaelP]

I don't do either.

But the good thing about real trees means that land that could otherwise be parking lots or strip malls is being used to grow trees.

[Red Byrd]

I live about 45 minutes away from a huge tree producing region. North Carolina trees have been chosen to go in the White House many times.

Live trees are good in lots of ways. Environmentally, they are trees that are grown to be harvested, meaning there is no depletion of wild stock. They protect the land they grow on - the sides of mountains are VERY steep and I'd hate to see the erosion that would occur if they weren't there.

More importantly to me, live trees provide a huge amount of income to a place that desperately needs it. Places around here like Boone (home of Appalachian State University) and the mountains are glamorized for their natural beauty - rightfully so - but the standard of living for the vast majority of people is very low. Poverty is very real, and I'm not exactly sure if the tree farmers would have any source of income without them. To me, that is the most compelling argument for trees.

The most fun, however, making a huge pile of dead trees on New Years Eve and lighting a gigantic bonfire.

[Ren Butler]

My cat eats and climbs real trees. So we have a fake tree. Saves a ton of money, and saves me from cleaning up cat hork.

It's now a tradition for the wife and I to erect the tree while watching football on the first Sunday of Advent, and to take it down while watching bowl games on New Year's Day.

[FindlayNative]

One of the coolest things I've ever seen is the line of Christmas trees forming a "road" on the ice in and near the straits of Mackinac that marks safe passage for the sleds and other mechanized vehicles that make their way to Mackinac Island. The trees are placed when people dispose of them after Christmas.

The view from the Mighty Mac is incredible.

So count me in for the real thing.

[NoviVespa]

I am sure that "tree huggers" don't object to Christmas trees. Christmas trees are raised on a farm, just like potatoes and carrots. Tree huggers are trying to save natural forests.

[comfortably numb]

My cat eats and climbs real trees. So we have a fake tree. Saves a ton of money, and saves me from cleaning up cat hork.

I love the net.
It expands my vocabulary.
Thanks, Ren.

[midtown]

Horf works too.

[mclarke]

I lean towards green but have no real concerns about cutting a wild tree.

Seems like most of you are urbanites with your tree farms and your controlled environments. Drove about five minutes from home, walked another ten minutes through some woods, and cut a very nice tree yesterday afternoon. Crown land, ie, public rather than private ownership, means that I could have gone in any number of directions and places for a tree.

Trees grow rather thickly in this part of the universe and the main rules for public land are that you can't cut a tree just for the top and you need a license for commercial harvesting. My rule is that if I cut it, I use it and this has resulted in the need to shove some trees deep into a corner of a room over the years.

We always make a big deal out of getting a tree, with hot chocolate, pictures, and relatives going together. It really gets one in the spirit and the tree lasts, with care, just long enough to be taken down on Jan 6th. Local municipalities chip and mulch the trees for reuse as compost for parks in the spring.

However you get your tree and your Christmas spirit, have a wonderful time!

[stnkypete]

True tree huggers don't have Christmas trees, they have "Holiday Shrubbery"

[Ren Butler]

I used to love picking out a Christmas tree with my parents, but once I started having to shell out $40 a pop, and my first wife seemed to be allergic to them, we bought a fake tree.

The great thing is that there are no bare spots, no risk of fire, and no needles everywhere.

The bad thing is that it's tedious to assemble, and I miss the fragrance of a real tree.

[Joe in LA]

[QUOTE=Ren Butler]My cat eats and climbs real trees. So we have a fake tree. Saves a ton of money, and saves me from cleaning up cat hork.
QUOTE]

We have two cats that climb trees--real or fake, and sleep in them. We don't have much many ornaments.

[cleanupcrew]

live trees are far, far more green than fake ones - which are largely made with petroleum products etc

Christmas trees are a crop, grown for that specific purpose - like any other crop ...

They are a renewable resource and better yet they are good for the environment ... younger trees tale larger amounts of Co2 out of atmosphere than older trees etc.

And vast majority of either landfilled, which permanently sequesters that Co2 or are burned in waste to energy plants - which creates energy, but many of these plants now scrub and capture Co2 ....



last - who the heck care what the tree huggers think .... well, except for "Tree Hugger" at PDM, he's kinda cool ...

[tifosi77]

I prefer a real tree, but my beagle makes that untenable. If you do harvest a live tree, plant a sapling in its place.

[cheeseczar]

Never cut a tree in my life until I moved up here.

Used to be a big thing...take the kids and dog out and saw one down.

The kids are moved and the dog is gone. So we just hit the Boy Scout tree thingy instead of cutting another one down.

Toyed with the artificial tree but just can't do it. The real ones smell so good once a year.

[Stick500]

When I was a bachelor I always bought a small potted pine tree and then when I was done I planted it in the backyard. After about 8 years I had a nice little forest of trees of varying sizes. Now THAT's the greenest way to do things. Now all I ahve to do is figure a way to be able to bury myself under them....

[Truth Detector]

If you have a fake tree you probably love this:

[abuseddog]

Wonder if the tree huggers use 2 0r 4 ply.

Europe uses sand paper sheets, god bless the Alberta softwood industry for supplying luxury not known in Europe.

[Indyknut]

I've sunk christmas trees as fish attractors at a few lakes. Many lakes don't allow it but this one is not a USCOE lake and the others were private.

Balsams work much better than the pines. The spread out branches tend to attact algae growth better and give small fish better hiding places than the tightly branched pines.

regardless of which though, they don't last near as long as a bunch of weighted hardwood branches.

[Jamski]

We "tree huggers" ( ) collect and mulch the discarded trees and spread the mulch on trails. The hikers, runners, and walkers love it. It's soft, springy, and it smells wonderful.

I used to cut our own trees, but like others, putting up the arti-tree is as much a tradition now.