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?

Oh and we’re middle class but so is my Mum and she has an artificial one that is decorated to match her room .

I've just put up my 7ft real one and love it, but am getting older and can imagine the "real thing" will have to go soon in favour of an easier to manage fake one (and some are SO realistic now it hardly matters)

It's never occurred to me to think of them in terms of "class" though ...

Growing up (working class) we always had a fake

Once I met DP (both working class) we've always had a real tree. Since the kids came along we now have a real and a fake tree (I decorate one upstairs for the kids and we have a lovely real one downstairs)

Grew up in a single parent skint 1970’s - had a real tree ( donated to the playgroup my mum ran and carried up the lane on the last day of term to our house where it usually needed sawing in half to fit!)

Always have a real tree I love the smell and the whole process of picking it and putting it up etc) -3 kids five cats - no issues- laminate floor so no hoovering- I sweep once a day - no needles everywhere.

I’m poor middle class I guess

On average if you have a plastic tree for more than 3 years it is more environmentally friendly. My plastic tree is older than me as it was passed down from my grandparents and it is still good.

Ultimately it really doesn't matter though

I have no idea what class I am, I never think about it. Arriviste probably.

I have an artificial Christmas tree. I tend to buy a big, expensive one in January (it's usually half price or even better) and keep it for years. The last one we had lasted a decade. The current one is now on its second year. If it doesn't last until at least 2030 I'll be a bit miffed.

I'm not averse to a real one but DH seems to have a mild reaction to pine oils or pollen or something. Whenever we visit his brother (who always has real Christmas trees) in December DH comes out in a rash and starts sneezing afterwards.

Also we have underfloor heating and apparently that kills real trees.

I love a real tree. We buy local and ours gets shredded. I don't judge anyone with a fake tree but I really do dislike the current trend for everything matching. I imagine when the fashion changes some of these people throw away decorations and buy again.

Oh and I pay for it to be recycled in Jan via our local hospice fund raiser

If I'm honest I was probably a bit of a tree snob too.....until last year when our real tree pretty much lost all its needles by Xmas day and I put it outside on Boxing Day. I've gone fake this year with a cheap tree from Argos (didn't want to spend loads in case I hated it and didn't want to use it again) and I actually really like it and I many ways prefer it 🙈

I have an artificial tree, had it 8 years so far, bought it the year I left home. I dont know anyone who replaces artificial trees every couple of years. Love mine, a real one would feel like a faff. I do make my own wreaths though so get a lovely smell off those

Solidly middle class.

Artificial tree decorated with awful ornaments made by the children, from my own childhood etc. Mismatched tinsel and lights. Christmas is supposed to be warm, tacky, and fun.

Real trees - my parents were at a house party in the 80s where one went up (large real tree that had dried out; lit candles on it; poof!). I also worry about the environmental cost. Pine forests aren't good for wildlife so if you are giving over areas of land to pine that's not good, regardless of how 'green' the management is.

My in-laws have a real tree that they have had for c. 15 y - it is a dwarf tree of some kind that lives outside in a pot and comes in for a few days each year. It looks lovely but I'm fine with my artificial one - c. £25 from Sainsbury's in 2011 and no reason why we won't still be using in 2031!

Having tried real trees, both 'disposable' and potted, I went over to a good artificial tree about 15 years ago and going into the loft to get it down, and assembling it, is part of our Christmas tradition!
A friend is snobbish about artificial trees and asks me if I'm 'going to get a real tree this year' - er, no, why would I, just because you're snobbish about them! 🤣

DH also grew up in working class Scotland and says they always had an artificial tree, ironically as they were surrounded by fir plantations.
I grew up in working class 70s/80s Essex and we always had a real tree, and I viewed artificial trees as soulless and tacky. Going to get the tree from the farm was one of the highlights of Christmas. I think nowadays though artificial trees are much nicer.

I mean, I think artificial trees are nicer than they were in the 80s, not necessarily nicer than real trees - we still have a real tree.

We had a horrible little artificial tree when I was growing up and I vowed I'd always have a real one. So I do.

They hardly shed any needles nowadays.

Having said that, artificial ones are lovely now. My friends have a mix, doctor and university lecturer with an artificial one for example. And some have switched to artificial because they're more convenient in older age or with pets or lack of space.

I don't really think it's a class thing where I live anyway.

Always had real. My German grandma decorated hers (including real candles!) on Christmas Eve and we all assembled to admire it at 5pm and had drinks and nibbles. So it's an intrinsic part of festivities for me. My tree has white lights, some silver tinsel (I find lametta too fiddly) and all the ornaments we've collected over 40yrs. And we love reminiscing about them.

I was saddened by a friend who talked about getting her tree out of the loft on 1st Dec, and how she packs it away still-decorated to "save her a job", and it will go away again on the 27th. No magic there, just another task, like ironing

And another friend who buys a new plastic tree every year and decides on that years theme and gets new decs as well (mind you, she also throws out all her "art" every time she decorates and buys a load more matching "works")

But they're my friends and I really don't care about their trees! I think it's more about different priorities rather than class/wealth. My tree is a priority but I don't send cards and buy one or two significant presents only for my immediate family. Your mileage may vary 🌲

It depends on how long the tree lasts etc. When you consider what it's FOR a real Christmas tree is a huge waste of water and resources anyway and water is going to become a crisis resource. Far better to have a youthful tree being felled that has another use beyond frippery. Of course the only environmentally friendly option would be an outside tree which you remove bits of every year to decorate the inside with. Replacing it with a younger (but still local tree spieces). But bei g on the outside looking in at Christmas I suspect even the most "green aware" grit would run me through with their wrapping scissors before giving up their tree

Apparently if you use an artificial tree for 10 years, that's more environmentally friendly than buying a real one.

www.independent.co.uk/life-style/christmas/christmas-tree-real-living-artificial-plastic-environment-carbon-footprint-a9235551.html

A plea to those who want to change their colour schemes each year - please donate your "unfashionable" decorations to your local charity shop. They sell really well. Obviously ask in January if they're able to take and store, but don't be chucking them in the bin.

We have an artificial tree that was about £200 from John Lewis 8 years ago. Our (now deceased) cat used to eat the needles off a real tree and we were always afraid of them damaging her throat. When we've had real ones they also always seemed to drop their needles, even the ones that claimed they wouldn't.

Warm white lights (although I'm hankering after the pretty hazy coloured ones of my childhood so that might change for next year), decorations a bit of a mishmash, everything from an annual Newbridge silver one to tat made at nursery and knitted snowmen, no tinsel or lametta.

We also have a smaller tree in the dining room which is a little artificial one in a hessian sack that sits on the sideboard, it looks the part and people assume it's real. It only has white lights and beautiful, rather expensive glass baubles on because they look so pretty on it. And it's surrounded by knitted Christmas stuff and all sorts.

I think we're a bit of a mishmash between smart and tat!

I do love the smell of a real tree though.

Growing up in a w/c household, we had an artificial tree. My parents experimented with a real one at some point, but couldn’t be dealing with the needle shedding.

Now, we have a real one. I just think it’s a much nicer experience. I love the smell. I agree that the ritual of going to get it is lovely and adds so much. The room we have it in is small, but I’ve never found getting something to fit to be an issue.

I am MC. We have a very posh artificial tree that is 20 years old and I adore it. It always looks amazing - we tried real trees but they never looked good and I hated the mess. I am not sure what type of tree my very posh neighbour have but the ones with the biggest houses put their trees up at the end of November so I cannot imagine they are real?

Grew up MC and had an artificial tree (DM hated the mess of a real tree - see the pattern here?) She invested in an amazing artificial tree that cost a small fortune when I was a very young child, as an upgrade on the not-so-pretty "tinsel like one". DM had it for about 30 years so I think it more than paid its way.

We have a slim artificial one so it fits in the space in the living room - have had it for a few years now. I have a small potted one for outside the front door and it is now in its 3rd year.

To summarise

In denial that it's a class thing:
'I don't think it's a class thing, we have an artificial one because reasons (environment/needles/cat).'

Honest:
'I'm working class I have an artificial one'

Middle class trying to pretend it's not a class thing and they aren't a snob:
'I have a real one because of the smell'.

(I have both, some years real some years artificial)

I have both, because we have five trees downstairs and it would be difficult to have so many real trees everywhere.

If you keep your tree for decades it is better for the planet, and I do find really trees such a terrible waste. The dog chokes on the pine needles and they usually die before Christmas day, or best case droop terribly.

We buy one potted tree for our main drawing room, and we have it planted in the gardens afterwards. We have some wonderful old christmas trees now growing very well, and becoming very big. Some die, but some make it if they are purchased later in December.

**real