The dilemma of the Christmas tree
This year I saw a lot of Christmas trees in the social media earlier than ever before, in a bid to bring joy and excitement to the continued coronavirus restriction. Are we all certain about the sustainability of the Christmas tree, does a real tree or fake one have a lower carbon footprint?
Should we opt for an artificial tree that we can dust off and reuse every year, or should we buy one freshly felled and place it in a landfill come next month?
Are real or fake Christmas trees more eco-friendly?
“A real Christmas tree has a significantly lower carbon footprint than an artificial tree, particularly if it is disposed of in a sensible manner .” - The Carbon Trust
Real Christmas trees are a sustainable resource. They’re slow to grow crop often cultivated on land that isn’t good enough for anything else. It takes seven years to grow a two-metre Christmas tree during that time it’s acting as a carbon sink, trapping CO2 and using ten times fewer resources than artificial tree factories.
According to the Carbon Trust, two-metre Christmas tree without its roots and it is dumped into a landfill after Christmas produces a carbon footprint of around 16 kg of CO2.
A Christmas tree with roots has a carbon footprint of around 3.5 kg of CO2 - considering it is properly disposed of.
On the other hand, a two-metre fake Christmas tree made from plastic has a carbon footprint measuring at around 40 kg of CO2!
The answer is obvious, isn't it? The artificial one has more than 10 times greater than a properly disposed of a real one.
“You do not need to worry about deforestation when buying a natural Christmas tree, because the majority are grown as a horticultural crop and aren’t felled from pre-existing forests”
If you already have an artificial Christmas tree
“A general rule of thumb is if you’ve got a fake tree already, keep using it and make it last as long as possible,”
If you have an artificial tree already, keep using it and make it last as long as possible!
You can search for more ecological options when it’s time for replacing it. If you want to keep having an artificial tree due to allergies or other reasons, you can try to buy a second-hand one!
You can also consider an artificial Christmas tree made with as much PE (polyethylene) as possible, which means it will have less PVC –a highly polluting and non-recyclable plastic– if you insist to buy a new one.
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