Real Christmas Trees are 'Greener' than Fake

It may not sound green, but cutting down a real tree for Christmas is actually greener than going with the artificial kind, according to Clint Springer, a biologist at St. Joe’s University in Philadelphia. He goes on to say that: "It is a little counterintuitive to people, because of concerns over deforestation around the world, many people naturally worry that buying a real tree might contribute to that problem.. But most Christmas trees for sale these days are grown not in the forest but on tree farms, for the express purpose of being cut.” He continues to believe that real trees are a better choice when it comes to greenhouse gas emissions as live trees actively photosynthesize as they grow from saplings, which removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. After they have been cut and Christmas is over, they're usually chipped for mulch. As mulch, the bits of tree very slowly decompose, releasing carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere. So in the end, a real Christmas tree is essentially carbon neutral, putting the same amount of carbon dioxide back into the air as it took out, although it may be much more slowly. The tree farms that grew the trees also replant after the trees are cut. Artificial trees, however, don't come out even in the carbon balance. Petroleum is used to make the plastics in the trees and lots of carbon dioxide-creating energy is required to make and transport them. “Because these trees just end up in landfills after a few years' use, those greenhouse gases are lost forever," Springer said. "There's really no opportunity to recycle those." Springer continues to state that he suspects that artificial trees have become more popular in recent years because they are more convenient. Adding to incentives to get a real tree as opposed to an artificial tree is that most artificial trees are produced in China, while real trees tend to come from one’s own local farms and surrounding farms, and buying local is always supportive to ones community.

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/298961,real-christmas-trees-greener-than-the-plastic-variety.html