The holiday season has come into full swing with all the typical festivities, such as the lights ornately hung on almost every other house in America and, most noticeably, the Christmas trees sold in masses during weeks leading up to Christmas. This use of Christmas Trees has become commonplace in many American households, however, very few people consider the environmental impact of the use of these trees. Even those who believe that they do understand these impacts, who would rather purchase a fake tree rather than a real one, are still making a decision that can seriously impact the environment.
Many people who see the purchase of live Christmas trees as damaging to the environment are under the false impression that vasts amounts of fir or other evergreen forests are deforested just to supply the trees. The reality is that these trees are framed in vast fields, like the production of any other agricultural good. Though this method of farming the trees doesn't directly destroy habitats for certain animal species, over the long run, the farm-production of trees can still vastly damage the environment. For example, the use of fertilizer specifically to help the trees grow can runoff and pollute nearby waters, which is extremely damaging to nearby aquatic habitats. In lakes and ponds, the fertilizers can cause more algae to produce on the surface of the body of water, which prevents sunlight from reaching the rest of the body of water, effectively killing the habitat. Furthermore, fertilizers can act as a pollutant in groundwater as well.
There are still several glaring issues with the use of artificial trees as well, especially in the production of the trees. The emissions used to extract the resources for and create the trees can be damaging to the world itself since the greenhouse gas emissions would considerably increase as a result of this production. Those who see this as the safer option don't consider the carbon emissions and resource depletion that can occur in the process of creating the artificial trees.
Ultimately, both real and fake Christmas trees can have a negative effect on the environment through fertilizer runoff and carbon emissions, but there are situations in which each type is clearly favored. Artificial trees are only actually beneficial if they are reused for at least ten to 20 years, while real trees would be better for the environment, in fact, if they were used for less than ten years. Ultimately, the decision on what type of tree to use really comes down to how long the tree is going to be used and whether or not the user genuinely cares about the environment.
