Keeping it real in the market for Christmas trees
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-Rusty Pritchard
Does the prospect of choosing a Christmas tree fill you with the same
environmental angst that you get when confronted with “paper or
plastic”? or “cloth or disposable diapers”? Those are actually two very
hard questions, mainly because there’s not a whole lot of difference in
the environmental impact of the alternatives. You can think outside the
box, and use your own cloth bag, and just go for diaperless parenting
(yes, there is such a thing; no, I haven’t tried it).
With Christmas trees, however, there are a few definitive answers.
First, thinking outside the box is tough. You could skip the tree and
decorate your houseplants, or draw a tree on the wall (fine for
renters). You could take a Puritan approach, rejecting the paganistic
overtones and pointing out that “Santa” is, after all, an anagram of
“Satan.” Or have a hyper-secular holiday by erecting a Festivus pole
instead (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Festivus).
Most of us want something more traditional. Some people go for live
potted trees, hoping to plant them outside after the holidays. The bad
news: Most evergreen trees aren’t suitable for bringing inside for the
whole season. The dry heat of your house is pretty rough on plants that
should be outside, and hauling heavy pots in and out twice a day does
not make for Yuletide joy. We had a live Norfolk pine for few years—a
tender evergreen that made a fine houseplant year-round, but that
looked like Charlie Brown’s Christmas tree when decorated. We liked
ours until it hit our ceiling (five years), despite the derisive
remarks from vistors. You can find them at garden centers.
Artificial trees are almost always made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a
plastic that is toxic to produce, heaping pollution on the poor
denizens of “Cancer Alley” in Louisiana and other unfortunate places
where vinyl factories are concentrated. Moreover, the plastic in the
trees is sometimes stabilized with lead. You don’t want to eat or
breathe the particles that slough off your plastic tree onto your
presents. Everyone repeat: No vinyl, that’s final. Let it become a life
motto.
Real wood Christmas trees are grown on plantations, not in natural
forests, so the ecological disturbance is minimal. They are replanted
after harvesting, and after Christmas most municipalities arrange a
pick-up; old trees are generally not put in a landfill, but are instead
recycled for use as mulch, or used whole to prevent shoreline erosion
and to provide shelter for animals.
Real Christmas trees are a renewable resource. Plus they smell great
and make people happy. I wish that were true of all my family members.
Go for a real tree. Merry Christmas.
-Rusty Pritchard is the editor of Creation Care magazine (www.creationcare.org). He lives in Atlanta with his wife, Joanna, and their three children.