Real tree Vs artificial tree? Is it a status symbol?

[CatsWhiskers1976]

Just putting up our artificial tree and having some thoughts.
At work the other day we got to discussing Christmas trees, and the old real vs artificial debate. It seemed to me that there was a bit of 'snobbery' against those who had artificial trees (maybe that's just where I work!). There were those who said artificial trees were just TERRIBLE for the environment. Given that most people I know have had their tree for many years (our family one was about 40 years old before it was replaced) is this really true? Cutting down live trees is okay for the environment? I have never had a real tree, growing up I didn't know anyone who had a real tree and in our circles it was usually only the slightly more well off people who ever had real trees. Apologies if this offends anyone, it was just my experience as a child growing up in working class Scotland.
Some people at work looked horrified at the thought of having a 'plastic' tree (mind, they were going off to cut the perfect one down on their 'estate').
So what do you think? Real Vs artificial? I spent a fair bit a few years ago to get a really nice realistic looking artificial tree which I hope will last years. At the time we had cats and I was afraid they would get hurt/never leave the real tree alone so I have stuck with artificial.
What does everyone else have? Do you judge people with fake trees?

Real with a load of tatt on it!!! Decorations collected and made over the years. We always laugh as we pull them out year after year and the memories come flooding back! I love both white lights and coloured lights!

Artificial - bloody allergies.

@catgirl1976

Don't know but I love a real tree. DS however cried when he saw some cut and ready for sale as "A tree belongs in a forest not chopped down to die slowly in someone's living room"

So class issues aside I now have to have a plastic one so over sensitive DS does not mourn its piney death

I can understand how he felt. It is sad to think of trees having to die.

Always real. Bringing greenery inside is part of the winter tradition.

I absolutely agree that there are certain perceptions, shall we say, about artificial trees.

We used to get real trees.

Plus side - they smell great.

Down side - they’re not cheap. They’re a hassle to get home and inside. They don’t always look perfect, because one side is inevitably wonky. They need watering. They often need regular vacuuming if they’re not non-drop. They need disposing of. It’s not really that sustainable for millions of families to be cutting trees down every year, just to throw them away.

We go up to our other home for Christmas for 3 or 4 weeks and by the time we get back, the tree is a shrivelled brown mess.

As such, we made the decision to get an artificial one a few years ago. It’s huge and pretty realistic looking. It looks (a lot) better than any of the real trees we used to put up, has now paid for itself, and is a lot easier to put up, take down and store.

@FromABook

This is actually interesting. Often I see it said that the more working class you are, the less likely you are to have a large sum of money to invest in a product that will last, which is why people can't stock pile etc in preparation for covid isolation or Brexit or whatever.

I'm not sure what class I fit into (not British, so don't really get where the lines are drawn), but my parents were well off, but we're definitely not. Anyway, it's def more affordable for us to buy a real tree as a one off, for £20, than to drop £150+ on a fake. Even though over the years we'd spend more when added up. We just don't have the money for a fake.

Thankfully, see post above, my DPs work were (weirdly) giving out small living trees last year, so we are going to try to keep that alive in a pot for a few years.

So from a rich vs poor point of view, I'd say rich people can afford a fake tree... I certainly can't!

Does your origin mean you won't have experienced Woolworths?

Five foot tree, 1994, £10. Looks like shit, but going to last for about 10,000 years. 2/3 of it currently in landfill, the remaining 1/3 shoved into a plant pot and draped with 50p tinsel from 1996 and multicoloured lights (£5 from aforementioned Woolies around 1998).

I hate it. Always have. But I don't have a car to be able to buy a real tree and DP took over the sodding decorating yet again.

Real all the way for me I tried fake trees but didn't like the uniform shape and lack of Christmas tree smell! Alternate between coloured and white lights with every kind of decoration collected throughout the years as well as things my dd has made.

we used to spend Christmas at my grandparents and I have such lovely memories of my grandfather coming home with the huge tree, trying to fit it through the door, the gorgeous pine fragrance, dressing it, getting pine needles everywhere finding them in your socks and pants!

So I have kept up the tradition and would never have an artificial tree because of those lovely memories, to me going to choose the tree and the fragrance are what Christmas is all about, that cosy, festive feeling. My love of real trees is certainly not borne out of snobbery. I saw an artificial tree at the garden centre for £800 the other day, my real tree was £50!

I really wish I could visit people indoors at the moment-I want to go and be a judgeypants about everyone's trees now.

Always had an artificial tree growing up as my parents got sick of picking pine needles out of the cats’ paws.
They’ve had it at least 25 years.
I think I read that artificial trees are better if you keep them for 20+ years so I bought one when I moved out intending to keep it that long.

I find getting a real cut tree a faff. You have to bring it home, dispose of it in january, and somehow keep the damn thing alive and not drop needles everywhere.
I did have a real potted tree for about 5 years that I managed to keep alive over the years and then it died, so I bought a multicoloured rainbow tinsel tree last year which is fab. Stick some lights on it and its good to go

also real trees make me itch so much when I touch the needles, so i assume im mildly allergic

Always had an artificial tree as a kid, now I always have a real one because I don't have the space to store an artificial one the other 11 months of the year. I much prefer the look and smell of a real one so would never go back even if/when I do have space.

When it comes to cats I've had mine 10 years and the only time he's shown any interest at all in the tree was the one year I had a borrowed artificial one. Never gives the real ones a second look.

Our artificial tree was £10 from B&M so they definitely don’t need to be expensive.

I agree with PP I am much more snobby about people who are obsessed with making their tree perfect and colour coordinated. That’s not what Christmas is about!

Always had real trees growing up and I was a bit snobbish about fake ones.

Then moved in with DH and bought a fake tree from b&q for £30 because we were going abroad for Christmas and didn't want a dead tree when we came back.

I'm converted to fake trees now. That same one is up now, 8 years later and still looks amazing. We tried a real one a couple of years ago and it was such a faff and lopsided.

But I do like the nostalgia of my parents house with their real tree that mum has grown in a pot these last five years.

we used to have a real tree, i got them quite cheaply dh didnt like the needles and they failed to grow in the garden afterwards.

we were given an artificial tree, had that for yonks,
a couple of years ago ds bought the tree,

i would say artificial trees, if reused year after year, are far better for the environment.

in fact our previous artificial tree is in the front garden, looking real

Everything on MN is eventually turned into a class issue!

The nicest artificial trees are bloody expensive, so it’s not a money issue. IMO it’s more a ‘fuss about mess’ issue - people who are very tidy and obsessed with hygiene and de-cluttering, very often can’t stand any messy needle drop.

BTW, OP, re the environment issue, real Christmas trees are grown as a crop, like any other. The cut ones are replaced, and it’s worth remembering that fast growing softwood trees like these use up a great deal of CO2 as they grow.

Grew up in a working class background. We had a fake tree when I was young but my parents definitely had a real tree too.
I have a big real tree in the front room. I have fall ceilings and a bat window so it fits nicely there. I also have a fake pre lit tree in the kitchen/diner. So best of both worlds. They both look lovely.

We've always had a fake one but I've told dp this is it's last year it's huge and storing it is a pain in the arse. So next year we are going for a real one the first time I will have ever had one I can't wait no spreading out all the branches scratching my arms to bits. no squishing them all back again in January trying and failing to get it to fit in it's box.
Can't wait till January.

We have two - outdoor and indoor. Outdoor is real and normally about £60 every year. Indoor was around £80 in a Homebase sale in 2015.

@DENMAN03

Grew up in a working class background. We had a fake tree when I was young but my parents definitely had a real tree too. I have a big real tree in the front room. I have fall ceilings and a bat window so it fits nicely there. I also have a fake pre lit tree in the kitchen/diner. So best of both worlds. They both look lovely.

I'd love to have a bat window. I could send signals through it when Gotham needed another crimefighter duo.

We've had an artificial tree for past 20 years at least. Some varieties of real trees make me sneeze and they're expensive. Definite snobbery around Christmas decorations, but who cares! Christmas is already tacky and gaudy, go all in (or all out) and please yourself.

@cheeseismydownfall

Going to choose a real tree is part of the build up to Christmas IMO. I love the ritual of hunting out the best one, discovering it is a foot too tall (again), hacking a bit of the bottom, watching DH curse trying to get it to fit in the stand, choosing the best side, and finally bringing it inside and having the sitting room smell like a pine forest for weeks. Can't beat it! I've nothing against artificial trees but they in no way comparable to a real tree, I think.

This- there is a lot of ritual (cursing?!) with a real tree before you even get to decorate it. I am a Christmas tree snob- simple decorations, not many and just white lights. I enjoy looking at the actual tree. If I had an artificial one I'd probably decorate more heavily but I've been scarred by the poor quality artificial one we had as a child. Have had a real one every year since I've had a home and means to buy one.