Every year, the day after Thanksgiving, my family puts up and decorates our Christmas tree. As we went to pick out our tree at a local tree farm today, my mom said she was sad to have to cut the tree down. This got me thinking about Christmas trees and sustainability. While yes, my family is pretty sustainable, and we don’t make a habit of cutting down trees unnecessarily, I wondered why recently we have opted for a real tree rather than a fake one. (In past years, we had a fake tree, until the electrical parts stopped working.) And let me tell you, the biggest benefit is the smell. As I sit here and write this post, my living room is filled with the smell of fresh pine, bringing up memories from past Christmases and family. There’s nothing better than a pine scented candle around the holidays, except for a real pine tree itself.
Buying a real tree is in fact more sustainable than purchasing a fake one. In order for a fake tree to be more eco-friendly than a real tree, it would have to be used for more than 20 years. According to the New York Times, the annual carbon emissions associated with using a real tree every year were just one-third of those created by an artificial tree over a typical six-year lifespan. Most fake trees also contain polyvinyl chloride, or PVC, which produces carcinogens during manufacturing and disposal. When opting for a real tree, first of all, buy local. Supporting small local business always contributes to sustainability. Do a little research about the place you are planning on buying your tree from. Do they replant more trees every year? Most places do, as this is how they make their money.
It is also important to keep your tree lit only when necessary. My family plugs in our tree lights only when it’s dark out, and we always unplug them before we go to sleep, or if no one is in the room. Having a tree lit with no one around to see it is kind of a waste anyways. The end life of your tree is also important. Rather than just throwing your tree away in the garbage or your backyard, try and re-purpose parts of the tree first. You can do fun arts and crafts with branches of the tree, and even chop it up for firewood.
Written by Alyssa Lemire, Class of 2017
We all know that climate change, global warming, depletion of ozone layer and resource depletion are real and their impact on human and animal lives can be devastating. It is an opportunity for people to adopt actions for sustainable living that can help them to reduce their carbon footprint or environmental impact by altering their lifestyle. Great to know that you are making sure that everything you own and use is put to its maximum purpose. Lifestyles define our identity; we express our social position, political preferences and psychological aspirations to others through our lifestyles. Wonderful to find that sustainable lifestyles is enabled and inculcated in family’s traditions and thoughts which will continue to develop and provide us with better environment through people like you.