To find real Christmas trees sad?

[BlackAldi]

Hear me out, I love the look of a real tree but it makes me really sad to see trees that have been chopped down just so they can be a Christmas tree for a couple of weeks. Seeing them out on the roadside for rubbish collection in January also feels really sad and wasteful.

We have a fake tree (I realise there are other environmental issues with that) that is 12 years old and hopefully can last another decade. And also a little potted for tree that we bring in for Christmas then put back in the garden for the next year (so it’s a living tree and no killing/chopping needed).

anyone else feel sad about chopped real trees?

Real trees are genuinely better for the environment throughout their life cycle (apart from transport I suppose).

I used to use a fake tree but the giant plastic thing in my house became less and less appealing. I like the funny and less than perfect shapes we get in real trees, the smell, and the fact that they are reminiscent of yule traditions for so many years before me and my family traditions.

I also like the potted tree idea, but I am terrible at keeping potted plants alive. 😬

I know what you mean. I had the same fake tree for 15yrs and now I have a living, potted, Xmas tree. I think I'll get 8yrs out of it before it's too big and has to be planted.
Never had a chopped real tree even as a kid. Always potted ones. Our back garden had a little cluster of them.

We buy the ones in a pot which get replanted after Christmas.

Fake trees are so ugly.

I completely agree. A real tree is beyond gorgeous but it always depressed me. We finally stopped and bought a fake tree about 5 years ago. It looks so fake but i no longer have the sadness. I've always had a soft spot for trees though, I once cried uncontrollably when a favourite was being taken down. Sure, i was a hormonal 18 year old but trees seem to be in my dna.

And then up to 500 years for it to slowly degrade and break down while it's constituent chemicals leach into the earth.

But I have it now, so far better to keep using it than switch to real.

I.do totally agree that if it is.already here then keep.using it.

My point was more that longevity is not a reason to get a new fake one 😊

We just don’t have the space for a real tree. They tend to be much wider than fake ones. Also I am sentimentally attached to our fake one which we inherited from my late in-laws.

Me too. I hate receiving cut flowers and I also feel sorry for the Xmas trees.

No not at all. The whole point, for me, is to have something green and real in my home - not more plastic. We saw ours into logs and burn it when we're done, so no waste.

My preference is potted tree (had once but it died as I’m shit so pointless for our household), real tree, plastic tree.

Real tree from local Xmas tree farm, so no shipping emissions, grown to be chopped down, compostable/burnable/make ornaments etc from trunk slices.

This year for various reasons we’ve borrowed a 20 year old plastic tree from a friend. So it’s good value for money but then what? Plastic around forever.

When we lived in the UK we rented a real christmas tree, it was then replanted and re-rented to us year on year.

They are a crop like any other plant that is harvested. Do you feel this way about potatoes?

They stink and always seem to harbour spiders that know which person in the house to jump out on (me).

Plastic ones are far better IMO. Ours is 15 years old and looks terrific still.

Read the fir tree by Hans Christian Andersen

Ever since I read that as a a child I haven't wanted a real tree...

The trees here have been recycled to help stop the beach eroding . Other trees have been shredded to use in the pens at the local zoo .

Ooh I know...I think of that little tale every Christmas. 😥
I still have a real tree though.

Our tree (always have a real one) was locally grown, an additional crop to support farming diversification). We cut it down and bring it home ourselves so we can fit it in with already planned trip so no additional transport costs.
It looks and smells beautiful all Christmas. A lovely connection to nature and our local community.
Then all the old trees are collected and dug into local sand dunes to prevent erosion.
An artificial tree couldn't replicate this for me.

Your 12 year old tree is now more environmentally friendly....I think they have to last a decade to qualify.

We take ours to the recycling centre every year. This year we are cutting the branches off for the recycling centre (I believe garden waste is made into compost) and we’ll be chopping up the trunk for camp fire burning in the summer.

The problem here isn’t people irresponsibly buying real trees, it’s not disposing of them correctly.

Don't be silly! My tree came from a local farm, they grow them in the fields for this purpose. After Xmas the council will collect it for composting.

Do you feel sad when you mow your lawn, cutting off thousands of blades of grass in their prime?

You say this sarcastically, but plenty of people avoid mowing the lawn to avoid killing small animals and insects/eggs (bees, butterflies, moths, spiders, snails).

I don't like seeing a nice wild patch of grass being mown. Let me guess, typical MN having an opinion about something.

It's just a farmed crop. Think about how much space is devoted to growing wheat, only for it to be chopped down and replanted.

Christmas trees are just a tall crop. Everytime they're harvested they're resown. I don't get the 'sadness'?

They are a crop, like cabbages or carrots.

We do not have a tree now but when the DC were small we had a living one in a pot which lasted for years. When it became potbound and wonky we shredded it and used the chippings in the garden.

Stink?? They smell divine. Plastic trees are an abomination.