Real Christmas Trees: A Great Environmental Choice

Each holiday season, shoppers find themselves confronted with a choice: celebrate with a fresh, real tree, or
one that is artificial plastic or aluminum. What most people don't realize is that the best choice has always
been the traditional and natural choice - a Real Christmas Tree.
Consider this:
• While they're growing, Real Christmas Trees support life by absorbing carbon dioxide and other
gases and emitting fresh oxygen.
• Real Christmas Trees are grown on farms just like any crop. Harvesting a Christmas Tree is no more
damaging to the environment than harvesting an ear of corn.
• To ensure a constant supply, Christmas Tree farmers plant a new seedling for every tree they
harvest.
• Artificial trees are a petroleum-based product manufactured primarily in Chinese factories.
• The average family uses a fake tree for only six to nine years before throwing it away, where it will
remain in a landfill for centuries after disposal.
• Christmas Trees are often grown on soil that does not support other crops. The farms that grow
Christmas Trees stabilize the soil, protect water supplies and provide refuge for wildlife.
• Farm-grown trees are biodegradable, which means they can easily be reused or recycled for mulch or
other purposes.
• The polyvinyl chloride (PVC) used in most artificial trees has been boycotted by environmental and
health groups.
• Swedish researchers found that Real Trees are five times more environmentally compatible than fake
trees.
• American Forests, a world leader in tree planting for environmental restoration, has publicly
endorsed the commercial growing and use of farm-grown Christmas Trees.
• Real Trees can be recycled in a number of ways, including mulch for parks and trails, in lakes and
ponds for fish habitat, dune and coastline restoration efforts and as boiler fuel for factories.