The alarming bit is what I was getting at before, or at least meaning to. It mentions a 6.5ft tree that goes to landfill can create an equivalent of 16kg co2 whereas the same size artificial tree produces 40kg but that could be over a far longer period if it's used for a decade. So it comes down to how they are handled by the buyer. For a person with some environmental knowledge they can be negligible in terms of impact but for others who live in the throw away society they are potentially not great.
So much greenwash though. Note the photo of the real tree grower using a petrol chainsaw to cut the tiny tree down. He could at least pretend to use a hand saw for the photo shoot. Why is there always a short lifespan given to artificial trees as well? Mine is over 20 years old and there's nothing wrong with it. Real trees don't survive well in my house because modern houses are just too warm and dry for them. I imagine this will be the case for an increasing number of houses now.
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
Real tree for us, just ordered it, will be delivered when he’s in this area,  he works nearby so not much mileage involved. We use one of the water trough clamp things, so it keeps wet all the time,  that tree stood outside after Christmas in the container on the patio and started dropping needles in June.  Good value.
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.Â
Real trees don't survive well in my house because modern houses are just too warm and dry for them. I imagine this will be the case for an increasing number of houses now.
We have a pretty cold house and stopped bringing our potted tree in some years ago because they didn't like it. We gave it the best chance by gradually acclimatising it but trees are not meant to live in doors. Now we just have a row of potted trees next to the house with a few lights but we don't really do much for Christmas.Â
Our tree is artificial, one of those much advertised and expensive ones from Balsam Hill. Given its price I can see us using it for multiple years. The tree it replaced was given away on Freecycle so hopefully has not yet gone to landfill.
I've done a big branch a couple of times and that might be this year's solution. I quite like the Scandinavian stick tree as well -- I have plenty of spare sticks after Storm Arwen!
@Posy, 25 houses in a neighbourhood agree on who will decorate one of their street-facing windows for the 1st, 2nd, 3rd December and so on. As each day arrives, the different windows are lit up (they generally have a large number with the date on it) and the ones from previous days also stay lit. Neighbours can then walk around the area and spot the different illuminated windows as December goes on.
Ours will be a real tree, though not a standard tree, The national park here marks out a few hectares of sand dunes each year and any pinus mungo growing there you can come cut down and take home. Right now we have rather to much snow to drive anywhere but it will melt soon enough.
Christmas tree farming is big business round where I am, there's lots of fields of them and many places also have a acre or so and sell them from the gate.
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We use one of the water trough clamp things, so it keeps wet all the time, Â that tree stood outside after Christmas in the container on the patio and started dropping needles in June. Â Good value.
We have a pretty cold house and stopped bringing our potted tree in some years ago because they didn't like it. We gave it the best chance by gradually acclimatising it but trees are not meant to live in doors.
Now we just have a row of potted trees next to the house with a few lights but we don't really do much for Christmas.Â
Our tree is artificial, one of those much advertised and expensive ones from Balsam Hill. Given its price I can see us using it for multiple years. The tree it replaced was given away on Freecycle so hopefully has not yet gone to landfill.
@Posy, 25 houses in a neighbourhood agree on who will decorate one of their street-facing windows for the 1st, 2nd, 3rd December and so on. As each day arrives, the different windows are lit up (they generally have a large number with the date on it) and the ones from previous days also stay lit. Neighbours can then walk around the area and spot the different illuminated windows as December goes on.