Christmas Trees Light Up Green Debate
Monday, 20 December 2010 | by Pat's Picks
The question used to be a simple one: real or plastic. But not no longer. This holiday season people are more concerned with size of their carbon footprint than whether Santa Claus has the correct shoe size on file, a development that has made Christmas tree shopping a highly political affair. It has also led to the inevitable question, how green is your wintergreen?
Two camps have emerged on the issue: those who insist plastic trees are more environmentally friendly because they can be reused year after year and those who insist there’s nothing green about passing over a locally grown spruce for a plastic one flown in from China. The New York Times tried to get to the bottom of the debate this weekend, citing several studies that found it takes anywhere from 10 to 20 years for a plastic tree to become a greener option. The Times says despite the fact that they’re cut down every year, real trees have a relatively small impact on the environment.
Study or no study, the battle lines are deeply entrenched. The American Christmas Tree Organization, a trade group for artificial tree producers, upholds a staunchly pro-plastic platform. They’ve even put together a list of pros and cons for tree shoppers to consider.
Members of the similarly named, National Christmas Tree Association couldn’t disagree more. They’ve compiled their own fact sheet, complete with a section entitled, Who decided to make a fake Christmas tree? According to their research, the company that pioneered the toilet brush scrubber is also responsible for the artificial tree, a piece of trivia that led to this not-at-all biased conclusion: “It’s still interesting to know the first fake Christmas trees were really just big green toilet bowl brushes.”
Nothing like dragging the year’s most cheerful holiday through mud. Let’s just hope this is one debate that never makes it to the House floor.
Turn’s out, there is a middle way. A Treehugger blogger suggests getting a live potted Christmas tree to avoid the real/fake debate altogether.
