Real or Fake Tree?

Christmas is here next week and although most people who actually celebrate it have probably already bought their trees, some might be on the fence about which kind of tree to buy; real or fake? Growing up my family always bought a real Christmas tree but many of my friends and relatives had fakes ones and until recently I never really gave it much thought. As a child, choosing a new tree every year was part of what made each year different from the one before. So here are a few pros and cons on both kinds of trees so you can judge for yourself which tree would be more suitable for your family:

REAL XMAS TREES

Pros: They are mostly grown on "Xmas tree farms" and for every chopped tree usually 2-3 more are planted. These plantations are therefore certainly renewable and boost farmers nationwide economically. Once the tree has served its purpose, it can be turned into mulch making it useful as a fertilizer for other plants. Year after year one can choose trees of different shapes and sizes which can be decorated in unique ways. They also smell very nice for a few weeks and add a touch of nature to an otherwise technologically dominated household.

Cons: Like most living things, insects and parasites can be a problem. Pesticides are the obvious go-to solution and Monsanto's Roundup is most farmer's pesticide of choice. Some people are more sensitive to it than others, but trees with heavy doses of the pesticide obviously pose a higher risk for animals and humans. The other cons involve human laziness; purchasing a tree every year, setting up and removing decorations, and disposing of the tree along with the thousands of needles that inevitably fall in every household's nook and cranny.

FAKE XMAS TREES

Pros: Human laziness is satisfied with this type of tree. They only need to be purchased once (although generally families purchase 2-3 in their lifetime) and can come pre-decorated. After the holidays, they don't leave a mess and are easily stored somewhere until the following December.

Cons: Most of them are made with Plastic Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) which is a toxic chemical that is released when the "trees" are made in various parts of the world. Some of them have been found to contain lead and other other hormone disrupting chemicals. They generally come with warning labels to wash hands after handling to avoid ingesting any metals that could cause brain damage.  These trees are obviously non-recyclable so remain with a family until they decide it's not modern enough at which point it sits in a landfill for centuries.