Love the idea of a real tree, hate the idea of killing/wasting trees

[TheBeesKnee]

This is probably silly but every year I want a real Christmas tree. I love the shape and the smell.

Then in the run up to Christmas DP and I mooch around looking at trees and back out because of how sad and wasteful it is to cut an entire tree down just to decorate it for a month.

I hate our old plastic tree as well, it is very old and crooked and looks a bit worse for wear, with various twigs that have fallen off over the years.

Does anyone else feel the same and if so how do you get over this dilemma?

The other thing is that I have absolutely no problem with buying fresh flowers for the house every fortnight in the spring/summer, but a tree just feels different somehow?!

The farmer must have very strong teeth

Buying fresh cut flowers fortnightly which are most likely flown in from somewhere like Holland will have more of an environmental impact than one UK grown Christmas tree.

I love a real tree and would rather go without a tree altogether than have a fake one.

No different to any other type of farming really...

They are grown on Xmas tree farms by farmers and take years to grow.

I know what you mean, OP!

Since you've already got an artificial tree, either use that or pass it on to someone else to use so they don't need to buy a new plastic tree. I bought a secondhand one this year as I just couldn't face the cost of a real tree (and all the needles dropping) and plan to use it for as many years as I can. My local charity shops always have some secondhand fake trees so you could send it there if that's easier than ebay/gumtree.

I do love a real tree, but if plastic trees are already in circulation they may as well be used, and reducing the demand for new ones would be a great way to help the environment--better than simply chucking it into a landfill or setting it on fire, surely.

The goat farmer's teeth😂

No. They are farmed. It's a sustainable crop. They grow on land often not suitable for other crops. They are as legit as any other type of farming, plus the end product is biodegradable. They also provide wildlife habitat while growing.
Artificial trees would have to be reused for at least ten years to have the carbon impact of using a real tree every year. Plus many are shipped from China, and then you have the problem of disposing of them.
Buy a real tree.

Ahh OP. You need one of our trees ;)

They are potted, delivered to you, collected back after Xmas and then replanted back into the field. Then next year you can buy the same tree again if you want although obviously its bigger then!

Once they too big to go into pots / houses each year they are felled, mulched and then mixed in with the horse manure to make compost for the baby trees.

There are a few places doing this over the country so you should be able to find one, and (in our case anyway) aren't much more expensive than just buying one!

😄

I would do this but there never seem to be any large ones available

Real tree all the way. Plastic trees create pollution during manufacture and end up in landfill. That kills plenty of wildlife.

A real tree, especially if it’s local, is much better for the environment. And also so so lovely! Don’t think of it as killing a tree, think of it as paying for a tree to grow for a few years (before it’s sawn to death). Local councils often have drop off points where they’re collected for compost in the new year.

Buying a Christmas tree is exactly the same as buying cut flowers, and no different from any other farmed crop. Are you losing sleep over the Brussels sprouts for your Christmas dinner, the potatoes, the carrots? They are all farmed crops too, so why do you feel guilty about a tree that's been intended to be harvested at the appropriate time, same as sweetcorn plants and cabbages?

We buy ours from a local estate, it's an important income stream for them and helps them to manage their land in a varied way. Unless you're totally against any kind of forestry then it doesn't make sense to object to real christmas trees. They should be chipped and used as mulch afterwards.

to be fair, goat is a bit like lamb and can get caught in your gnashers. sometimes a tooth pick just won't cut it and you need to call in the big guns and gnaw on a tree.

Our tree went to the alpacas last year. The year before they went to the goats at the local mini farm. We also have a zoo nearby.
Same with pumpkins however my two like to paint theirs.

It’s a crop that’s grown to be used as a Christmas tree, and same as any other wood being farmed for a purpose. Much better that than plastic surely.

@TheBeesKnee do you buy plastic flowers and use those instead of real too? What about plastic pot plants? It’s a crop like any other. If you have space you could grow your own.

No space in the garden for a potted one and they are too small for my taste anyway.

They are farmed as PP said. Ours are collected or you bring them to a collection point and they are shredded in front of your eyes and used by the council for the parks, flower beds, newly planted areas all around the borough.

What I would do: get a potted tree - it will probably be a bit small this year but it won't matter if it's nice and bushy. You will hopefully be able to keep it for at least a few years, repotting if necessary. When it's getting a bit too big, cut it off and put it on a stand. Meanwhile, you can look for a really nice fake tree if you think you might prefer this. The main thing is don't rush into buying a new fake tree.
Also the nice thing about getting real trees is there are so many different varieties to experiment with.

I suppose in reality we should just not have either! But I have a real one, from a local “cut your own” estate because I live rural.

I properly hate the huge swathes of non-native commercial timber which often replaced broadleaf trees as planted by Forestry Commission in the 1980’s (an experimental business model funded by the tax payer that never made any profit, destroyed natural habitat, and was one of the most dangerous industries in the uk). But farmed trees for Christmas are not planted at the same levels of density, they provide year-round jobs that are statistically much safer, more varied and better paid (than work on other tree plantations), and even fulfill different roles: the actual tree, and the festive-day-out to a cut your own farm, and cover for game birds. (equally non-native with no ecological value, but arguably [environmentally /health/ welfare] better than most mass-produced meat). We use our tree as kindling for the wood burner the following winter - it’s not the best timber for burning by any means, but if it’s reasonably thin and you can dry it out for at least 12 months it’s ok.

But if your option is one from local garden centre, probably cut in mix-October and driven from a few hundred miles away, chemically sprayed to prevent needle—drop then lifted by council recycling lorry for shredding at a diesel-heavy recycling plant before being added to dodgy plastic-bagged compost then it’s not as clear cut.

Artificial trees are generally produced overseas eg China, using power generated from “dirty” means (eg coal), in polluting factories with v dodgy employment practices. Then shipped here. And landfilled after 5 -10 years.... but if you keep it long term then it may well be much greener.

Another alternative is a branch. Wander round local woodland at start of year and find a good broken off one. Get it dried out then paint white (possibly with a spray of silver) & pot in Sand/gravel with some nice pebbles on top. We have one of these most years as a second tree. You can reuse them (some of my parents we kept for 7 or 8 years) & then use as kindling.