Thread Number: 73703
/ Tag: Other Home Products or Autos
Real vs Artificial Christmas trees |
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Post# 973365   12/13/2017 at 01:34 (2,297 days old) by LordKenmore (The Laundry Room)   |   | |
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I'm curious about the views of real vs. artificial Christmas trees. Which do people here prefer? Which do people here use?
I grew up with real trees, and I think there has been a part of me that thinks it's nice having something real, not a man made look alike. There are the arguments about the pleasant scent of a real tree, too.
But as I get older, I'm starting to realized there are drawbacks. Or, more accurately, those drawbacks are starting to carry more weight. Like the pain of vacuuming up needles for 8 months after the tree gets removed. Plus there is the cost on what is, at best, a fleeting investment.
I haven't decorated a tree since 2012 or 2013...but I wonder if I ever do go back to decorating trees if I might not consider an artificial tree. |
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Post# 973366 , Reply# 1   12/13/2017 at 01:42 (2,297 days old) by johnrk (BP TX)   |   | |
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but an artificial tree, am too crippled to handle a real tree any more and won't bother friends just for that. I'd still rather own one of those aluminum ones with the rotating color wheel... |
Post# 973369 , Reply# 3   12/13/2017 at 01:44 (2,297 days old) by johnrk (BP TX)   |   | |
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Of course they sell spray-on stuff now that can give your fake tree that 'authentic' aroma. I don't use it, though. |
Post# 973375 , Reply# 4   12/13/2017 at 02:39 (2,297 days old) by MattL (Flushing, MI)   |   | |
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I do 3 real trees every year, if I had to a fake tree I doubt I'd bother putting a tree up. |
Post# 973384 , Reply# 5   12/13/2017 at 03:08 (2,297 days old) by johnrk (BP TX)   |   | |
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I don't pay that much attention to the Christmas tree. We Catholics often concentrate on the Advent wreath, and it's a very old tradition that I've come to enjoy and look forward to- |
Post# 973424 , Reply# 7   12/13/2017 at 08:52 (2,297 days old) by johnrk (BP TX)   |   | |
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Oops! Had to go back and edit this so that the atheists won't get me removed... |
Post# 973426 , Reply# 8   12/13/2017 at 09:03 (2,297 days old) by turquoisedude (.)   |   | |
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When I was a brat, we always had real trees until my mother got fed up with the 'Charlie Brown' look of the trees my father brought home. An artifical tree was my first choice for years, because I tended to put up the decorations early to host a holiday party early in December.
Now, however, thinking about the content of the artifical trees (plastic that no where I know of recycles), the footprint of shipping them from China and then across North America, and just my own personal desire to buy less from China when I can, I'm getting into the habit of a real tree again. Thinking about the tree I bought this year, it came from a grower in Québec and both municipalities offer a special pick-up of the trees in January where the trees get ground up for compost. Years ago, folks around here thought it was more environmentally sound to get an artifical tree to save real ones. And amazingly, there were several Canadian manufacturers of artificial trees. These days, trees are 'farmed' not harvested from some boreal forest. Back to the disposal, I can't tell you how many artifical trees I see tossed in spring, usually the pre-lit models that have a section or two that no longer light and which the owners could fix with a new bulb or two but have no idea how to. Futher to the pre-lit models, when an LED string goes bad, you can't even hope to fix them, hence the tree gets tossed.
I do have to put up the tree later, but that's not such a big deal. In fact, I'm pretty late this year, but it's making the Christmas season a little less streched out for us. So we are making the season not as hectic, but our age, we can afford to slow things down a bit and enjoy the season. It's making Christmas more of anticipation that I felt it used to be. But that's just me... |
Post# 973436 , Reply# 11   12/13/2017 at 09:59 (2,297 days old) by vacerator (Macomb, Michigan)   |   | |
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John. It was actually more of a celebration of life. It was just a very long tiring day from so many wonderful visitors. We had been having a living wake for the past month or so, remeniscing, looking at photos, a birthday,etc. |
Post# 973496 , Reply# 12   12/13/2017 at 16:38 (2,296 days old) by Iheartmaytag (Wichita, Kansas)   |   | |
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We had one of those shinny aluminum trees with the color wheel light. We continued to use that tree for many years because we were poor, by poor there were years that we cut out pictures from the catalog of what we would give as presents if we had the money to buy them.
One year I remember my Mom splurged and bought a small real tree, I remember the smell of that tree. I loved that tree, I tried my best to keep it as long as I could. After we took it down, I tried putting it in the dirt outside to keep it alive. Silly me, it was already cut and dead, but I tried. After that we got a 4ft tall artificial tree, we used that tree for nearly 20 years. Once, I decided that I would get a real tree, it was about a 6ft blue spruce. I think I gave $14 for it at K-mart. My love for that little tree when I was in second grade disappeared, I hated that tree, it was messy, I was allergic to it, and the cat wouldn't leave it alone. Then we went a period of not putting up a tree at all. When My daughter was first born, I bought a 4ft fiber optic tree for half off of half off on Christmas eve at K-mart. We have used that tree for the last 13 years. I like the little fiber optic tree. You put the base on the table, plop the tree into the base, spread out the branches, and plug it in. Done. Taking it down, I don't mourn the little tree, as I know it will be back next year and shove it back under the basement stairs. I also have a Charlie Brown tree. I set it up by my nativity set, hang ours stockings and that's about the extent of my decorating. |
Post# 973499 , Reply# 13   12/13/2017 at 16:47 (2,296 days old) by RevvinKevin (Tinseltown - Shakey Town - La-La Land)   |   | |
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I grew up having real trees in the house most of the time (though I do vaguely remember an aluminum tree when I was very young) I'm guessing there were few to no other artificial options available back then.
Around 10 years ago my ex and I were shopping after Christmas and came across a high quality artificial tree marked at 70% off. We bought it and never looked back. It's 7 feet tall and looks very nice for an artificial tree and unless you're 2 feet away from it, it's hard to tell it's not real.
True it doesn't have that "real tree smell" and I do miss that. But when you consider an equivalent size and shape real tree is now $100 - $125.... add to this not having to water it, clean up the needles that fall off, becoming a fire hazard when it dries out, add to all this the "harvest to disposal" environmental impact.... well, I'll keep using my artificial tree thank you very much.
Kevin |
Post# 973523 , Reply# 15   12/13/2017 at 19:32 (2,296 days old) by countryguy (Astorville, ON, Canada)   |   | |
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We always had real trees, balsam firs, one inside and one outside, when I was growing up. My dad would take my sister and I out to the woods to cut down the 2 trees for us and 1 tree for my grandparents. Sometimes we travelled miles to find the perfect trees. Since I have been an adult and on my own, I have always used an artificial tree.
Gary |
Post# 973553 , Reply# 17   12/13/2017 at 22:20 (2,296 days old) by LordKenmore (The Laundry Room)   |   | |
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I loved that tree, I tried my best to keep it as long as I could. After we took it down, I tried putting it in the dirt outside to keep it alive. Silly me, it was already cut and dead, but I tried.
I, too, was saddened by day when the real tree got taken down when I was young. Even as a teenager, it was a sad day coming home and seeing the living room "back to normal." I never went as far as trying to plant it, though, but I argued against one tree location. It was more convenient in terms of less furniture to shift, but it was near a heat register, and I worried that the tree might dry out too fast.
I was also interested in some magic potion that supposedly increased tree life that the tree lot carried each year. It was put into the tree water, and so it would have been probably a bad idea for people (like us) with pets. |
Post# 974146 , Reply# 18   12/17/2017 at 00:32 (2,293 days old) by LordKenmore (The Laundry Room)   |   | |
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thinking about the content of the artifical trees (plastic that no where I know of recycles), the footprint of shipping them from China and then across North America
Interestingly, I read a piece ("How to Have The Greenest Christmas Tree Ever") that mentioned that real trees might be better environmentally than artificial trees. Quote:
It may seem counterintuitive, but cutting down a living tree is a more eco-friendly option than importing a plastic one. As the New York Times reported in 2010, you’d have to use a plastic tree at least 20 times before it broke even with using a real tree for each of those years. Think of what happens when you throw it away. A real tree will biodegrade, while a plastic one will languish, unrecycled.
https://www.care2.com/greenliving/how-to-have-the-greenest-christmas-tree-ever.html
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Post# 974474 , Reply# 20   12/18/2017 at 16:10 (2,291 days old) by Ultramatic (New York City)   |   | |
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My folks always had natural Christmas trees until Christmas, 1968 when the first artificial one arrived. That one lasted until 1978 when another artificial tree arrived. An all white one. It was beautiful, but after a few years, those red hot C-7 bulbs were beginning to leave scorch marks. So it was replaced in 1982 with one of those "Scotch Pine" trees. The ones that have those bottle brush bristles. I immediately hated it. It was really hard, if not impossible the hang ornaments right. So in 1985, we went back to natural trees. The look, aroma and the joy of going out to buy one and tying it to the roof of the wagon, well that was Christmas. And I was on a mission to find the right tree. I was the only one at Home Depot with a box cutter and gloves.
But now the downside of a real Christmas tree. Sometimes, no matter what you did, they did not last. I hated I could not put a tree up before say, December 14 and have it last until January 6 (Feast of the Epiphany). And a few times the tree was all put dried up before new years eve. Another annoyance were the branches being too weak to support ornaments and light strings. Then the horror of taking it down. All the scratches and cuts on my hands and arms from taking down the lights. Then wrapping it in plastic, and hauling it down to the designated disposal site. Not to mention the MESS of needles that it left behind.
Three years ago, I switched back to artificial, yes it can't compare to a real tree in terms of beauty and aroma, but no more messes, no more injuries and no more nervously wondering if the tree will last.
When they develop a GMO tree that stays fresh for months and has strong branches, then I might be swayed back into a natural Christmas tree.
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Post# 974500 , Reply# 21   12/18/2017 at 18:00 (2,291 days old) by cuffs054 (MONTICELLO, GA)   |   | |
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Ultra, I can top that. Dear ole dad always had to have a real Scotch Pine. It would take forever to find one. When it went up there was no place for decorations. I was scared for life. |
Post# 974502 , Reply# 22   12/18/2017 at 18:05 (2,291 days old) by vacerator (Macomb, Michigan)   |   | |
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is preferred, when you decorate with Love, they all look nice. |
Post# 974533 , Reply# 23   12/18/2017 at 21:48 (2,291 days old) by sambootoo (Moody, AL)   |   | |
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I like 'em both! We use an artificial tree (or 2) here due to wife's allergies. I agree.They all look nice once decorated! Johnrk, see your PM. Now, let's all post some pics of this years trees. |
Post# 974579 , Reply# 24   12/19/2017 at 07:08 (2,291 days old) by Maytagbear (N.E. Ohio)   |   | |
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do not allow real trees for fear of fire. Lawrence/Maytagbear |
Post# 974661 , Reply# 25   12/19/2017 at 19:45 (2,290 days old) by LordKenmore (The Laundry Room)   |   | |
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