Photo by Jessica Booth
The great Christmas debate.
There’s always been this back and forth around the holiday about having a real Christmas tree as opposed to having a fake one.
Margaret from Country Christmas Trees in Dorchester is a strong believer in having a real tree for Christmas.
The amount of time and care that goes into growing such trees is beneficial as she explains what happens after the trees are done with the holiday.
“The real tree, when it’s taken outside, it’s chopped up, it becomes soil again and helps make trees grow.”
When it comes to the cost of Christmas trees, for the real ones, the cost varies.
“It just depends on what kind of a tree they want. You know the different types like we have Norway spruce, White spruce, Blue spruce, Scots pine, Fraser fir and Balsam fir.”
Margaret believes the pros outweigh the cons when it comes to having a real tree for Christmas.
“The fresh air, the oxygen you get from the tree, even when you have it in the house, it’s still a live tree.”
The environmental impact the trees give back is a real selling point Margaret makes.
“If you get a real tree, we plant them all the time. The plastic and stuff go in the garbage. The real trees are recycled, usually chopped up by the city, for walkways and stuff, and when they’re growing they use carbon dioxide and give off oxygen, they’re good for the air, for our health.”
Photo by Andrew Spencer on Unsplash
On the flip side, Brionna Friday has grown up with only having a fake Christmas tree for the holiday.
Friday believes the environmental impact is greater with having a fake tree.
“You’re not really taking anything out of its habitat, and you’re not killing something for just decoration purposes”
When it comes to the cost of a fake tree, Friday looks at the different viewpoints for both fake and real trees.
“If you’re looking at the consumer standpoint, a fake Christmas tree is probably anywhere from $50 to $150 depending on the size. Where the real Christmas tree, you pay, I’m assuming an entrance fee to wherever you’re going, you have to pay for the size of the tree that you’re now cutting down, and then you have to strap it to your car, so I would probably say it is more expensive. But also from the employer standpoint, like having to keep up with it during the offseason, during the season it’s a lot more expensive because you want to keep that tree alive, where a fake Christmas tree is made of artificial and plastic so it’s not as expensive as a real one and maintaining it.”
There are pros and cons to both sides, same with the environmental impacts.
Real Christmas trees take time and care to be the amazing trees that they are, but they only last you one season, so there’s always that added cost.
Fake Christmas trees are made of plastic and can cause damage if not disposed of properly but do last for many holiday seasons if cared for.
So, there’s really no right answer, just what someone prefers. But at least everyone who celebrates the holiday can agree, putting up and decorating a Christmas tree is always a fun time and gets you in the holiday spirit.
