Eco-Friendly Friday Tips Volume Twenty Five
November 28th’s Tip
Christmas Trees: Stuck between choosing a real Christmas tree or a fake one? Here is some information to help you decide.
- Fake trees are made of PVC, which causes a lot of pollution during production, and may contain dangerous levels of lead.
- Fake trees are not biodegradable or recyclable.
- There area bout 5000 choose and cut Christmas tree farms in the U.S., and for every real tree harvested, 2 to 3 seedlings are planted in its place (1)
- 85% of fake trees are imported from China (2)
- Buying a real tree from a locally managed tree farm helps support your local economy.
Buying a real tree may sound counter-productive to environmentalism, but purchasing from a tree farm set up for the purpose of growing Christmas trees is not going to harm forests. These farms are set up for this purpose, and are growing new trees as others are cut, continuously renewing the supply of trees. Ask your local tree farm if their trees are grown organically (or, alternatively, search Local Harvest for organic tree farms).
Stay tuned for December 26th’s Eco-Friendly Friday to learn how to recycle your real tree rather than throwing it away.
For more information on fake trees and why they may not be the best choice, visit National Christmas Tree Association.
Contribute
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