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?

This does not lend itself to theming though.

No... All sorts on mine.

I read The Little Fir Tree by Hans Christian Anderson as a child and bawled my eyes out, because of this I have never had a real tree, it still makes me tear up and I'm 58.

This thread has made the daily Mail...

I really couldn't care less who has a real or artificial tree or what they do with it. Lifes too short. I really dont think your tree choice defines you

Growing up wc we always had a real tree. Now I'm an adult mine is a 7ft artificial tree 5 years old.

Themed trees = lack of imagination.

@DrSunnydale

Hmm.

Controversial.

On the one hand, we have an artificial tree in our basement extension; on the other, a real tree in our double-height atrium.

And another real one in one of our sitting-rooms.

Perhaps we are, simply, greedy...

That sounds like tacky overkill. How ghastly.

@flaviaritt

I don’t care what other people do, but I like longevity with my Christmas baubles. I like having the same things on the tree year after year.

We mostly have the same things too - just because somebody has a theme/colour scheme doesn't mean they chuck their baubles annually. In our case it's more like adding a few different ones to tweak it - this year I didn't put many gold ones on and have more pink/copper/teal/purple colours which suits our room at the moment. There's always a few left in the box each year and which ones that is varies.

Oh and our disney ones (yes, classless tacky muck) went on the kiddy rainbow tree this year so that changed it.

@TheKeatingFive

Perhaps we could get people to send pics and then we’ll take a stab at class/income/part of the country.

No smell though.

I would hazard a guess no one is brave enough. Pity because that would be very entertaining. As for guessing which part of the country, I’m not sure that is at all relevant.

@Janegrey333

Themed trees = lack of imagination.

Given the opposite on here seems to be "throw anything you have to hand on the tree" I'm not sure how that shows imagination. But yes, certainly when you walk in to a shop or hotel or home with beautifully decorated trees the first thing you think is "oh no there's a colour theme that person has no imagination"

@Janegrey333

Themed trees = lack of imagination.

What bollocks. I wish I had the time and imagination to do a themed tree instead of getting the same old decorations out every year.

@MeeshW

We live in a 5 bedroom detached in a leafy London suburb. 3 kids at private school. I'm a SAHM. We have an artificial tree every year and I love it! 🤷🏼‍♀️

And?

"That sounds like tacky overkill. How ghastly."

Janegrey333: is that you, at The Cedars?

But, yes, you have a point.

What do you think of our swimming-pool? I'm assuming that's you with the binoculars...

What rudeness.

Middle class. Always had real with white lights and only a few red / white baubles/ornaments.

Artificial for first time this year as we have a tiny baby and lots of people staying for Christmas. It looks brilliant, I might be persuaded to stick with it.

Had my artificial one for 10yrs. Pops up and down
Easy peasy!

Themed trees are very unimaginative. Often it’s because the colours are those dictated by someone else eg Joh Lewis, Instagram etc.I like to make up my own mind.

I prefer to have bark stars - bought - or large antiqued silvery fir cones hanging on fine rustic twine. Those items form their own display. Not everything has to revolve around a tree. It is even possible to decide not to have a tree. Shock! We had a bough of fir one year which we selected nearby and which was decorated in a minimal way.

There are so many possibilities if you have the vision thing.

...John Lewis...

I am not going to be crass enough to declare my class here. 🙂

@Janegrey333

What rudeness.

@VinylDetective ( Not the odd swimming pool person.)

A fireman once informed me that artificial trees are way, way, way safer than real trees. Real trees are a massive fire risk apparently.

But I've never had an artificial one and would find it weird. We uproot ours from the garden every year and then plant it back out. It has the added bonus that we can't have it in too long as it won't like it - so three weeks max.

Don't know how artificial trees can be for the environment unless you buy new ones every year. I got my parents old tree as they paid a fortune for it. It's 20 years old and still going strong. I dread having to buy a new one.

Janegrey333:

I really must protest.

I am not an "odd" swimming pool person...

I am most definitely "even."

I expect a person with even a modicum of knowledge about trees could tell isn’t real if they looked at it properly. And the sensorial experience would do it for them regardless

Nope. It's actually incredible, I thought she was taking the piss telling me it was fake. It was like the most perfect real tree ever.

Themed trees = lack of imagination

Or the opposite. Takes more imagination to think of a theme, how much imagination do you need for mismatched baubles and a bit of tinsel?

It’s definitely a class thing. Usually the old school middle class types who have room to put the tree in their Volvo and country piles which are perpetually cold but they’re far to ‘robust’ from their days at boarding school to put the heating on. They also look down their noses at anyone who has a theme rather than a mish mash of decorations that have been handed down over the generations and anyone who puts their tree up before “the twelve days of Christmas start”.

There’s also plenty of Hyacinths who have read just enough Jilly Cooper to know that this is the way things “ought” to be and will slavishly defend the ideal.

Most hilariously, the greatest Hyacinth I know has a grown up child who popped her artificial tree up in November just to “give herself a boost”. So there’s hope for the future