Fake Christmas Trees vs. Real Trees
According the NYS Department of Environment Conservation (DEC), for every one Christmas tree that is cut, one to three more seedlings are planted. The benefit for using a real Christmas tree instead of a plastic (fake) tree is that almost all Christmas trees are grown as crops making the switch from an artificial tree to a real one an easy decision. It takes six to seven years to grown a Christmas tree. For those years that real tree soaks up carbon dioxide , a greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change (global warming) and the chemicals to make plastic trees actually creates more greenhouse gases. Real Christmas trees are a renewable resource. In addition most town collect used trees to be chipped and recycled for mulch, which helps reduce water usage in municipalities. Most fake trees are not biodegradable.