Christmas Trees. Are you real or do you fake it?

[SpikeandDru]

Just wondering

We have a plastic tree which we've had for about 5 years now - the cat (less than a year old) is currently wrecking it so I suspect it may not see out another year.

Would like to go real but can't stand the thought of all those needles in the carpet.
I DO like real trees though - that lovely Christmas tree smell.

Ecologically I am not sure what's best - suspect the plastic one is just okay because we do re-use it again and again.

plastic one is highly ecologically sound, keep it up.
put the cat in the cellar for the duration

Fake (bought it last year) and my 9 week old kitten is jumping on it!!

I need to get a water sprayer pronto!

It is a slimline one cos my front room is tiny so I didn't want one to overtake the whole room up!

regardless of ecological credentials, could not do a fake one [shudder]

Real one. I much prefer real ones - the smell, the look, everything.

Don't like fake ones, they just don't feel as Christmassy to me. Have had one in the past one year when DD was little but never again!

if you have a plastic tree ALREADY then keeping it is the most ecologically sound way to go

otherwise they are made of utterly unrecyclable crap (eg pvcs, mixed plastics), and shipped halfway around the globe. Don't buy the ecologically sound arguement.

Real trees, otoh, can be locally grown if you source them properly, and do at least soak up CO2s during "manufacture". Also, buying one tree means another will be planted, so you are offsetting at least a bit of that xmas carbon (yes I know re carbon offsetting but still, better than nothing). They don't tend to be doused in pesticides either, IIRC.

Best of all, get a living one and LOOK AFTER IT. So get a much bigger, clay/terracotta pot than the tree comes in, get the tree home, soak it for a bit, repot in compost mixed with those moisture retaining granuales(perclite? you can get them from b&q if need be) and then keep it a. watered and b. in the coldest room of the house. If you keep it coldish and watered it should not drop and should be ok for next year also.

Real. I absolutely love real trees. Yes they are a bit inconvenient and quite pricey but they add atmosphere.

Ecologically, if they are grown locally and sustainably they are practically carbon neutral. But thats not why we do it. We do it because we like them.

Real - loving my tree this it is a lovely shape and have had lots of compliments lol!

Always get a real tree. Don't do much in the way of decorations inside or out so a real tree is our thing.

Not the same without IMO. Couldn't bear artificial and fibre optics yuck!!

Real -I love the smell (apart from the year DP came home with one that smelled of fox piss -that wasn't very nice)

real here too. grown locally. Wish I could find one that smelled right. The non-drop ones don't smell. The one we will buy will shed needles everywhere but we have wood floors so pretty easy to clean.

real- you need a Nordman Fir which doesn't drop.I reallywish you could get more trees in pots.I have heard that in the usa you can 'rent' a growing tree for a month and they will take it away and plant it afterwards.I love the idea of that.

Real- and this yr it has to be absolutely massive as we've just moved to a bigger house and have very little furniture to fill our front room..hoping the tree will disguise this fact til we can do an ikea run in Jan!

Its the ritual of the thing, and dropped needles don't bother me at all....

Fake I am afraid. I do love real and we have had real - spent a fortune first year we were here in Budapest buying one with roots that we could plant in the garden after and it died anyway.

This year we will be away from 19th to 2nd so won't be here to water a real one.

Our fake one was made in Thailand but we bought it while living there in 1990 so although it has been shipped halfway around the world and back again it was because we were too!

And it is 17 years old and still doing OK. Not nearly as nice as a real one but can't this year.

Real. In a pot from the local farm. It doesn't have to be a big tree either in my book, just something with the right shape and smell. I love real trees .

My tree is big and beautiful and perfectly formed and a reet bargain as it goes - 10ft and only £30!! Am made up with (though slightly neurotic about bauble placement etc!)