The Rise And Fall Of Real Christmas Trees - Cheddar Explains
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ก.ย. 2024
- Christmas trees weren’t always a staple of the holiday. But today, Christmas wouldn’t be complete without a decked out tree- real or artificial. Sales of fake trees have slowly risen over the last few decades, while the market for real trees has remained stagnant. But market competition is just one of the struggles for the real Christmas tree.
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Here in central Utah, we get a $10 permit from the US Forest Service to cut down our own tree up to 10’ tall. You can then volunteer for a program to plant two saplings to replace it-effective forest management. A big plus-when you cut the tree around Thanksgiving and keep it nicely watered, it won’t dry out and start shedding needles, even after you take it out after New Years Day. We feed them to our goats and sheep, giving the only fresh greens available this time of year, then save the trunk for firewood. It’s inexpensive, fun, and good for the forest and the environment.
Nice
Good on you. I don't begrudge people who get real trees. Different traditions in different families.
Did not know that goats will eat evergreens. I have donkeys and they won't touch the evergreens on my property. They will nibble on everything else that grows on my property except the evergreens.
@@Donkeyearsa goats will eat pretty much everything, edible or not, anyway lol
When you buy your house plant a pine tree and use that as the family Christmas tree. As your family grows, your tree grows.
I wish my parents did that haha. That would have been awesome.
The main issue with that is that the tree would need to be planted in the ground, inside the house, to keep growing with the family. Restricting root growth will pretty much keep the tree from growing to a normal size. Of course, that depends on how large of a tree you generally have in your home to begin with.
We did that. It then grew to be so tall that it towered a good 20 feet over our house. The HOA strongly recommended we cut it down. Good times haha
My neighbor has a about 10 meter outdoor tree
What if you don't think that you will ever be able to own a house?
I work in the living Christmas tree business. When you claim that real tree sales have stagnated recently, it’s because of the economic downturn of 2008/2009. There has been a shortage of trees for the past 5 years and likely will continue to be shortage for another 3-5 years. That being said, this has been the highest demand year for real trees ever, and we expect that demand to grow year-after-year.
Wow that’s a really fascinating point from an economic perspective. Thanks for sharing!
In your workplace or in general?
If sales have stagnated, why is there a shortage?
To me, a real tree makes the room more lively. There's nothing like the awesome smell of a real tree, watering it, and covering it with ornaments. It makes Christmas more "organic" to me. The trouble of going to get a real tree makes Christmas worth the effort. Pulling the fake tree from the attic when my dad quit buying real trees really became a downer after growing up with real trees. Now that I'm on my own, I always get a real tree. What a way to connect with the past that having a real live tree.
Seek God’s will daily not distractions.
Proverbs 8:17💞
Romans 10:9-10🙏
1 John 5:19😈
My family has been using the same artificial christmas tree for over 20 years, so I guess we're good.
Mine is from Kmart, so it's OLD
I've had my artificial Christmas tree for 12 years
That's what made me turn my head in a video when they said you'd have to reuse a fake tree after 10 years to offset the carbon impact of buying that much plastic, but like...yes? No duh? The point of a fake tree is to not throw out $100 worth of plant year after year. People do and should be hanging on to fake trees forever, it's not like they degrade over time.
I’ve had my Christmas tree for ages, that’s why o prefer artificial they last forever
We've had ours for nearly 30 years and it's still good.
In Sweden local fishing clubs often collect Christmas trees to throw in the lakes for the perch
What do the perch do with it?
@@turbotim7380 It makes a good breeding ground for them
@@turbotim7380 Fish enjoy having some kind of cover, the branches provide an excellent spot for them
Real trees are awesome mainly for the smell.
@@karma9898 yes
The sell scent kits for fake trees to make them smell awesome too 🤣😂
@@karma9898 There are different kinds of evergreen trees and many of them don't have a smell anymore, possibly because they keep breeding them for size, which ends up breeding out the smell. 🤔 And many of the ones that do wear off quickly (the tree has no reason to keep emitting the aromatics once it's been murdered 🙄).
@@user-vn7ce5ig1z th
@@sentinel151 not even close to real Christmas tree smell
People being mad at others for buying a real or fake tree is actually pathetic.
Completely agree. If it’s your family’s tradition to do either or, or you just want to have a real or fake tree, who cares! There are advantages and disadvantages to both!
The only issue i have is with people who buys fake trees year after years. That defeat the advantages of having fake trees.
@@remliqa But that's just it: as a "real tree" person, I don't begrudge people who don't want to go through the hassle of setting up, maintaining and cleaning up after a real tree every year, but don't throw out a fake tree every year just the same because you're too lazy to box it up!!
Then let me be pathetic cuz I (living in scandinavia) didn't know fake ones were even a thing and they sound like shit.
My mom used her fake tree for like 15 years :)
in Malta literally nobody has real christmas trees because we just don't have trees in general rip (or the space or adeuqate climate for christmas tree farms cos we're a tiny island)
My family has gotten a real tree every year since I was a child and I will continue that tradition in the future nothing beats that real tree smell
They sell bottles of pine scent. 🤦 "Tradition" is one of the biggest causes of people doing bad stuff even when they know it's bad. 😒 Slavery and pederasty used to be traditions too. ¬_¬
@@user-vn7ce5ig1z Having a real Christmas tree isn't 'bad stuff'!
@@user-vn7ce5ig1z you seem like a fun person 🙄
@@user-vn7ce5ig1z but real trees are less environmentally impactful than fake trees, so it’s not “bad stuff”
@@user-vn7ce5ig1z oh come now, overvaluing trees as though they've the same rights as people is just silly
I bought a real tree for the first time this year. The reason was because I wanted to step it up this Christmas because of Covid. I love it, it smells great, it's not so much trouble watering it, and I'm going to keep getting real trees from now on. I even sold my fake tree online.
Why are you watering it??
@@jackchambre3133 cause u have too? The more you water the tree the more hydrated the tree will be meaning the branches won’t dry out and less likely to cause a fire
@@jackchambre3133 otherwise the tree dries out and the green shit falls all overt floor
@@ywoodstock what tree are you buying that dries out and dies in a couple of weeks?
@@jackchambre3133 most living trees will dry out after a couple of weeks
I hate prelit- when the lights start dying they are impossible to deal with. I tried taking the strings off of a beautiful fake one we had but the lights I replaced them with looked awful. The wires of the prelit held it together differently and it was drooping and didn’t look good at all so into the trash it went sadly, after only four or five uses. The one we got this year is not prelit so should get lots of use for many years to come.
Idk what kind of tree you had but all my bulbs are replaceable so no need to buy a whole string to install.
I've never had a pre-lit for that reason. I'm always burning out my lights. Next string of lights I get will be LED just to try.
We use an artificial tree for many reasons:
1. It's way, way cheaper. We bought one tree 20 years ago. It still looks great and it was like 20 bucks at Walmart. Decorated, and you'd never know the difference.
2. Its much easier. Go to the basement and set it up.
3. It frees up land where things like food or a natural forest can grow.
4. No pine needles to cleanup.
5. We like to leave it up through the winter and it still looks good when a real tree would be long since dead and brown.
I have an artificial tree and I still get tons of needles that fall all over the place.
@@thawhiteazn Yeah, I get those too but they aren't sharp and don't jab into your foot. You could get a long needle tree but I don't like them. I don't like the look and ornaments are hard to hang.
I have a fake tree, and I'll be keeping it for longer than 10 years.
I've had mine for 12 years
My mom used hers for 15 years untill it broke
Our Christmas tree is 17 years old by now, and still going strong.
@@AdriaOliSal nice
I've kept my REAL tree for 10 years...its petrified without leaves, but reusable. 😁
I buy a real tree. I just like the smell
You realize you could just get a bottle of pine-scent and spritz a fake tree once a year right? The tree and bottle could be reused for years, making it much cheaper and no tree has to die for nothing. ¬_¬
That's really the only advantage. That smell is wonderful. When I was a kid we would get a real one. As an adult, I have only used fake ones... the few times my roommate and I would put one up... on my own I haven't bothered LOL! If I had kids that would be different... probably get a fake one.
Too much of a pain. And I recall feeling terrible throwing the tree out and thinking what a complete waste. The smell just didn't compensate.
So I feel happy about the smell... I feel more terrible about the complete waste.
And I remember most of the trees were literally taken to the landfill by the garbage truck... so not only waste of wood, it filled our landfill.
Dumb meeting dumb.
I want pine smell, get a scent maker.
Want real pine? Go collect some pine tree limbs fallen in the forest... easy to do here in Idaho.
Some businesses... okay most businesses really shouldn't exist. This is a no brainer one of them... and over supply Christmas trees? WTF? The most useless stupid shit, when you can grow many other more beneficial crop; growing pine trees I'm assuming wet climate so apples to various types cherries to pears to peaches to apricots... so many more useful and probably more profitable less wasteful stuff.
And tastier.
I get it, the nostalgia as a child... but like a child you grow fond of stupid. Some point you grow up. And don't teach your child stupid anymore. This again is one of them.
I have a live one- a lovely-smelling Fraser fir (Abies fraseri). It has a rootball intact (it is not a cut tree) and so it will be a feature of many future Christmases. It is only a 'baby' at the moment, at a mere 3 feet tall in height. Each year it will get taller and taller, and as it does, I will pot-up incrementally into a larger pot with potting mix suitable for conifers. When it eventually gets too big to be kept in a pot, I will plant it in a permanent position in the ground. A real tree that is still alive (rootball intact) will not drop all its needles and make a mess on your floor, whereas a cut one will do so sooner or later. I only bring my tree indoors for about 7 days maximum during the Christmas period (including Christmas day, obviously) so that it is not starved of sunlight.
I've had a real Christmas tree for most of my childhood. I really liked the smell too, but that's the only advantage to it.
But let me tell you something about the real Christmas trees' cons and disadvantages. It really messed my family's relationship and stuff, I'm still sad about it.
Ok, let me explain that this is gonna be real deep.
sike
Ooh, ooh
We're no strangers to love
You know the rules and so do I
A full commitment's what I'm thinking of
You wouldn't get this from any other guy
I just wanna tell you how I'm feeling
Gotta make you understand
Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you
We've known each other for so long
Your heart's been aching but
You're too shy to say it
Inside we both know what's been going on
We know the game, and we're gonna play it
And if you ask me how I'm feeling
Don't tell me you're too blind to see
Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you
Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you
Never gonna give, never gonna give
(Give you up)
(Ooh, ooh)
Never gonna give, never gonna give
(Give you up)
I just wanna tell you how I'm feeling
Gotta make you understand
Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you
Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you
Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you
(Ooh, ooh, ooh)
(Ooh, ooh, ooh)
We've know each other for so long
Your heart's been aching but
You're too shy to say it
Inside we both know what's been going on
We know the game, and we're gonna play it
I just wanna tell you how I'm feeling
Gotta make you understand
Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you
Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you
@@user-vn7ce5ig1z trees don't have feelings, snowflake
I had an artificial Xmas tree. I kept it up year round. Decorated it for various holidays and special events. My cat would take naps in it and when I let him he'd knock the ornaments off. Was worth every penny.
We have a 12" ceramic tree with colored clear ornaments that get stuck on the 'branch' tips and a central light to make them look like lights. The cats love them, pick them off and chase them around the house until they disappear under something..
Awww
Kevin Conrad We had a similar ceramic tree growing up, made by our grandma. A few years back, I found those 12" ceramic trees again, and got them for my self and my sisters. Each year, it's the first decoration I set up for the season. The only colored "ornament" not glued in place is the star for the top. I've used different light bulbs over the years - considering an LED bulb in the future.
TIL: there’s a National Christmas Tree Association. 😐
My family has been using the same tree for 20 years.
My family has been using the same artificial Christmas tree for 12 years
My parents have had their tree since before 1989. Just recently got passed down to my sister. Those things can last forever.
The current one we using is 4 years old, last one was 15
The person who researches farmers for Indiana University is named Professor Farmer? Didn't have much choice on that one, I guess. :)
In Bloomington.
My personal opinion is that cutting down, or buying, your own real Christmas tree is really part of the experience of Christmas as a whole. It's fun and helps bring the family together. I understand fake trees when someone in your household has a pine or fir allergy, but for me, fake trees are just that, fake. Since my family and I aren't religious, we get the tree for the experience of Christmas and I think that a fake tree would detract from that experience and make it seem less real.
For me one of the reasons why I switched to artificial trees was because the trees kept getting more expensive, and they weren't lasting as long
Normally we have a real one but we also have my gran's one from the 70s in the loft
Lmao I do too! The ol' dusty spare tree! :)
the turning point was the needle technology making it look more real, if the real trees smelled like pine I think they'd be more popular
I hate the smell of pine if they smelled like pine I probably wouldn’t be celebrating Christmas and I’d become that one atheist who ruins the fun for everyone
@@therealspeedwagon1451 I am atheist and like the smell of pine, it's more about the gathering cuz everyone has holidays, my sister is the one with the yearly tree fetish
I love a natural. Been doing it in our family always. Love the tradition of bringing it from the farm and setting it up in the house.
My family has been using a ceramic tree since the early 1970s. It is 6 feet tall and has 20 boxes. I inherited it after my grandfather died in 2001. I rewired it for LED lights in 2015. The old lights could heat the room by heating up the ceramic. As long as no one is a idiot when moving the boxes or the parts of the tree I expect the tree to last another 50 years.
omg please tell me its insured
I grew up with real trees in Germany. Now that I'm celebrating my own Christmas with new traditions, I bought a second hand faux tree. It's like 25 years old by now and will be in use in my household for a long time. I'd still love to have a real tree, but I just feel like my approach is the most environmentally friendly. BTW at least here in Germany, you can rent a live tree in a bucket that's supposed to go back into the soil after Christmas. But! I've heard mixed reviews, with a lot of articles claiming that the trees will die once back in nature because the shifts in temperature etc are just too drastic for the plant
It's probably true. Palm trees are the only movable ones.
I am from Germany and I know no one who owns an artificial tree.
Here in the UK, hardly anyone owns real trees!
Unfortunately, my cats would never allow a Christmas tree to remain standing in my home
Lights and ornaments are cat magnets. I have a fake tree with a rotating electric stand. When I have the space clear of unpacked boxes it would make a great enrichment toy year round for my six cats. Just change the lights for each holiday and it’s done. I used to painstakingly wrap the wire hooks around each branch and ornament to futilely fight off the feline hoard.
Are not cats just the most entertaining of pets!
Not sure what my kittens would do if I ever did get a Christmas tree. They just love getting into everything!
I prefer the fake ones for a lot of reasons. One of them being allergies. Also, I feel like I am still traumatized by having to vacuum up all those needles up as a kid every day for a month every year. LOL. Fake trees can last a really long time. We had one of my Grandmother's trees from the 70s well into the late 90s. I had a friend's parents hand me down an old fake tree of theirs and when I moved I sold it really cheap on the Facebook marketplace.
You don't need to vacuum the needles every day...... Just every couple of days..... Stop pushing your tree and water it for gods sake....
@@Someone-ig7we You didn't have my mother for a parent. LOL. You had to vacuum under the tree every day. I also had to be the one to crawl underneath and water it.
@@brandchan Okay well that won't be the case for a LOT of people lol. That really sucks though. Every day is WAY too often lol
Tried one real when I married, it died before Christmas, in the next year we simple bought a fake tree and it's going for 4 years. I'm sold.
How what did you do to it??
I refuse to sacrifice the life of a noble evergreen just so Santa will bring us gifts
i think its sad that people kill these trees that took years to grow just to use for a few weeks then thrown out with the trash
Consumerism will destroy us all
"This is a 100% natural tree." That's your best argument against the claim that real trees cause allergies? Pollen, peanuts or cats are also 100% natural, and yet they clearly cause allergies.
I hate real trees they cause allergies I’m always sick around this time of the year my family was gonna start a tradition of us going swimming on Christmas but since one of us always got sick we never did it
That must be a real American thing. I don’t know a single person in Germany with an artificial tree :D
People in Sweden also have real trees
People in Sudamerica have fake ones beacause we dont have that farms...
@@alejandracastillo9857 apparently we do in my country, El Salvador. Literally didn't know until I was 20 lol, but I'd rather use my old reusable tree just cause I already have it and don't have to make a reservation 2 months before Christmas. Yes, to buy one here you gotta make a tree reservation 3-2 months before December
@@zweks WTF? In Germany you can buy them at every hardware or grocery store. The perfect ones are of cause gone first but everyone can easily get one
@@Chrischi4598 probably the farming process, I don't really know. Either way I'm just used to not taking care of needles or the smell of trees so I don't mind hanging the fake tree :) we also have a 2.50 meter tree and apparently natural trees here don't grow that tall, but again, I have no idea
What I love about a fake tree is that the tree itself because a family keepsake and tradition. Growing up, we had the same tree for my entire childhood and teenage years. I loved that tree. Now, I have my own fake tree, and this is the 6th year my roommate (same roommate all 6 years) have decorated it together. Our first Christmas together we got a real tree, and we decided it wasn’t worth the effort. Working in a theme park, the holidays are crazy busy, so we have no time to dedicate to taking care of a tree daily.
How about we plant a tree each year and have an artificial tree in the home
Might aswell plant nothing.
As a German, I can't imagine using a fake Christmas tree in my own living room.
Bringing an evergreen into your house is a symbol of bringing life into your house while the world outside is barren. An evergreen is a symbol of health and hope during winter, something green while we wait for spring.
A fake tree is just a lifeless piece of plastic. It is purely artificial. No nature, no life.
When the tradition is about bringing a piece of nature into your home, replacing it with a piece of plastic makes no sense to me.
Nices words and feelings, but you have a cadaver of a tree in your living room. May not be ded, but is rapidly dying.
No much for a symbol of life.
@@rodU65 Yes, the tree will die. But nature itself is pretty much alive. The tree symbolises fertility. In winter, nature appears to be dead. Evergreens show us that nature is very much alive and kicking.
It's not about the life of the single tree.
And even if it was, a dying tree is still more alive than plastic.
It depends on which country. In my hometown they cut from forest so we can't buy real trees because they don't plant new one. If there is farm tree then I prefer Real Trees Love the smell
Wife and I have severe allergies. The one time we tried a real Christmas tree we nearly ended up in the hospital. So for us it’s either a fake tree or none at all.
dont you love the farmers argument BuT iTs NaTuRaL
When we moved to the US our mom got excited to finally get to have a natural tree...turned out she was allergic
Nothing comes close to a beautiful real Christmas tree. I still remember visiting a client's house in the late 80s and they had a 7/8ft Blue Spruce tree. It was stunning. Have never seen a more beautiful Christmas tree.
Even if I had a car, my anxiety can not deal with any level of additional fire hazard so I'll keep my artificial fiber optic tree thanks.
Imma keep using my 10+ year old Artificial Christmas tree. Merry Christmas y'all!
Ive had mine for 18 years. And its my first tree, so i will be keeping mine as long as it lasts.
I am pagan and having a tree is one of the few pagan practices I can casually slip in and relate with Christians on, catch me out here with my real tree.
Why ruin the environment making artificial trees when you can just plant one in the backyard instead
We've used the same tree for over 20 years
my family used to get a normal 6ft tree, but then we discovered that having a shorter 3ft tree meant we could put on the bench of our bay window. My Aunt and grandmother would just go out to the nearby pine tree grwoing on the edge of the yard and just cut off a single branch and stick in their potted plant in the living room, usually with a single ornament hanging off it. I definitely grew up with the proud tradition of the "Charlie Brown" Christmas tree.
Real tree cost me $20.00, use LED lights, decorate & smells wonderful! BUT this the season to just do your _own_ family thing.
Cheers 🤗🇨🇦
How small is that tree
@@lunare_ - A little bit over 8 feet, after I trimmed the top & bottom of it. 🇨🇦
@0000030331 - Wanna know a secret??
Real or artificial tree; this is one of the topics couples need to discuss before marriage 🙂
From where I live in the South of England more people are buying real trees, especially amongst the wealthier classes.
Millenial here who grew up with real and switched to fake when married husband who grew up with fake. Discovered I am allergic to evergreens when after two years with fake tree I got real garlands to go with and had red itchy eyes and a sore throat all winter. So while I admire and wish I could do real I can't.
My family always gets a real tree from Richardson’s in Illinois. So cool to see the owner of the farm featured on this video!
This why I celebrate “Festivus”. No lights, no ornaments, no clean up or packing away. Healthier for the environment. Just a pole and wrestling--simple.
Funny story : In france things are totally the oposite with 83% real tree vs 17% fake tree. Also, because of tree CO2 absorbtion, a canadian studdy from 2009 says it would take arround 20y for a fake tree to equal a real tree carbon print. So we usually dont recommand the use of a fake tree for "ecological reasons".
But what if you have a fake tree for over 20 years
people are way to polarized over this issue, its a matter of preference. I think peoples political Fervor has started to bleed into more mundane things. (like if you think there is some political thing between real and fake trees you really need to take some time and think about how your bias is affecting your judgements)
Lol seriously!
Where I live, Australia, you can't buy real Christmas trees as far as I'm aware.
So how are Christmases is like in Australia? Since in most of the world Christmas is usually cold, while in Australia it's usually hot.
I’ve had my tree for literally decades, and it’s so much less of a mess, and I can breathe in my own house
you can breathe with a real tree...
I don't use fake trees, cause for me it just feels weird to not have a real tree on christmas eve.
Always found it very odd that Americans cut the tree. My family in Aus always just bought a potted tree, and when it got too big we planted it and bought a new one.
My friend bought a real tree, and it was full of spiders. So, fake tree for me
Mine left my cars full of needles,stuck in seats and carpet so I got an artificial one.
We have a fake one as we get allergic reactions from the real ones so its either fake or none. Now we've had the same one for almost a decade and plan to keep it for as long as it lasts.
I will always get a real Christmas tree
How did I know this would be commented
@@mitchellman4846 Because people have different opinions and some of us prefer real ones. That's how.
Nothing beats the smell of a real tree that helps bring Christmas in your home
About 5 years ago, we bought a tiny, pre-lit, mostly pre-decorated fake tree. Been a staple every december since.
Me too! My 2.5ft tree was on sale and it looks so real. It came with two different needles (including frosted tips), a weighted bronze pot, warm white LEDs, holly and pinecones. It looks extra fabulous after I decorate it and prop it up on gift boxes, surrounded by other room decorations.
There's so many advantages to having an artificial tree: no allergies, no pests, no cleanup, less flammable, cheaper in the long run, easier to transport and set up, can be fixed if broken, more even, more styles and sizes to choose from, guaranteed not to die before Christmas Day, and can be passed down from generation to generation. You can even add a scent to it to make it smell natural. Also, fake trees are more widely available in a hotter countries (although I don't think any Christmas tree looks good in hot climates). To me, real Christmas trees are more of an experience. So for the years you can't or don't want to go and pick a real tree, you can pull out the artificial tree instead.
We used to have artificial trees till 2014 when we got a real one. Didn't like the smell of cat pee and mould from it's storage space
We never had an artificial tree since I was a baby, so I can't imagine Christmas without a real tree. Now I have my own kids and we continue this tradition. Real is real, artificial can't beat it, no matter how close they get. The smell, the feeling when you touch it, the look, the preparation and selection...
Agree!
I throw the tree behind the wood pile and then we throw it in the fire place the following year. the kids got upset the year they found out I was burning the old tree, but we made it part of the decorating, last year's Christmas keeps us warm for this year's Christmas
To me a real Christmas tree is by far more desirable, my only problem I can't get over is the fact we kill a healthy living tree just to decorate our house for just a few weeks and then toss it to the garbage. For that reason I choose to have a fake tree in my house.
Grown trees are just much nicer in terms of the smell and overall experience. And sure, having to pick, cut, and light a new tree every year is more effort, but that effort is part of the holiday as much as wrapping presents and baking cookies. I have nothing against people who buy fake trees, cookies from a bakery, and have the store wrap their presents, but it wouldn't be a complete holiday for me.
Artificial trees? In Europe you usually don't even hear of that crap...
I don’t like real trees because the pine leaves get everywhere and I think I’m allergic to the actual tree
Also I hate the smell
My wife (34) is younger than our Christmas tree by several years. I remember mum bringing the tree home around 1980 (maybe late 70's even) and along with our reseve freezer(similar age) it's probably one of the oldest things that gets used regularly... Other than me 🤣🤣
Here in Austria, I don't know anyone who has a fake tree. We usually just find a goodlooking spruce tree in our forest to cut down
I just think it’s funny that we go through all this hullabaloo on TH-cam to plant trees like teamtrees but then for Christmas we just cut them all down again lol.
Real trees need water or they'll catch fire and they shed pine needles everywhere.
The National Forest Service in my area has decided to allow cutting cedar trees for Christmas trees. That's what we did this year. Unfortunately, it looks like my wife and daughter are allergic to it, so we'll probably go back to getting a Douglas Fir from Lowe's next year.
Heres a Business idea: make christmas Trees out of processed recyclable plastics, use part of the profits to restore forests lost to wildfires
I’m muslim. Never even bought a tree. Why am I watching this? 😂 Merry Christmas💖🎉 Hope this year brings all of you joy and happiness
My Brother had life threatening allergies as a kid. His doc told my Mom no real tree (or so she told us lol) When we were a little older, she explained that she couldn't afford a real tree... paying 1x for the "fake" tree saved her money. Ironically, my brother has had a real tree for last 20 years. Also, my Mom had 4 large and 2 small fake trees when she died. 🎄😂😊
I paid $20 for a fake tree for my apartment five years ago. That's $4 per year I've had it. The longer I keep it, the cheaper it'll be. Don't get me wrong, I love real trees, I just love them more when they're rooted and growing in the ground instead of slowly dying in front of my eyes. I won't begrudge someone getting a real tree. It's just something that never quite caught on in my house. Rummaging out the family Christmas tree and the ornaments that you've made, kept, or had given to you over all the years is a special ritual in itself.
In Austria *nobody* uses an artificial tree
My parents bought an artificial tree in 1988 and my mom still uses it every Christmas to this day.
Here in Belgium real trees still outsell fake ones, especially in the south. Also, the fact of putting up a real tree and decorating it with the whole family brings a lot of joy into the home.
What is becoming even more a new trend is the Live evergreen that can be planted in your area when too big for a tree in the house. Often they plant the tree in the yard but some with little or no tree then either have the place take the tree back for 1/2 price if in good condition or they give the plant to the city/plant in a park or to a school to plant.
I got one of those fake trees but for jokes around the house I’ll wrap up a succulent in confetti for our Christmas tree
I celebrate with a tiny metal tree. My kid is grown and gone. She “borrowed” my Christmas tree and of course I never saw it again lol. Some day I will get a real tree again, but it’s too much work right now when there is no one to appreciate it. Plus, for years I had to do two trees, one at home and one at work. So, I’m taking a long needed break from Christmas decorations. But I have some amazing one of a kind ornaments.
My family has been using the same artificial tree for almost 25? 30? years I believe. This thing is older than I am and I'm pretty sure my parents will continue to use it for several decades to come as long as it doesn't break somehow.
That fake tree goes right into a landfill AND STAYS THERE.
@ᴡɪɴᴛᴇʀᴍᴜᴛᴇ _ I think his point is that the tree will last many, many lifetimes before it finally breaks down (into microplastics).
I’d pick a Charlie Brown tree over an artificial tree
I love real trees, the smell is very nostalgic to me. However, I like putting up my tree pretty early and a real tree would be dead (and a fire hazard) by the time Christmas came around
my family owns a bit forest, so me and my siblings have a tradition of putting on funny hats and heading out hunting christmas trees every year. worst hat gets to carry the tree home
everyone is talking about the smell of a real tree but i'd rather buy a candle and keep a fake tree for longer
this
too many pine needles
Tree growers can shrug off the idea of allergies/mold being a serious issue but independent scholarship says that it is. The number of mold spores and other allergens spikes when a real tree is present in your home. The first time we had a real tree when I was a child - it had to be tossed out the back door on Christmas eve. I had a severe asthma attack because of the increased mold in the house.
We always had a real Christmas tree up until recently growing up. I knew real trees was a thing of the past when my aunt switched her trees to fake. She always decorated 2 trees as long as I could remember. One year we she switched them to fake and no one knew until she asked us if we noticed something different. She spent a pretty penny for those fake trees too. I didn’t even know they could cost that much. But the thing looked really good and even had an evergreen smell to it.
As an adult on my own I’ve only had a real tree twice. Gorgeous but a huge mess the maintenance was easy but the clean up was a nightmare. I eventually got a fake tree not as nice as the one my aunt got but still really nice. I didn’t pull it out this year wasn’t really in the Christmas spirit.
My family never had a fake tree once in my life.
Same! My mom had only fake ones when she was growing up and she didn't want us to go through that haha!
I've a fake tree with the baubles attached permanently with the tips bent back to hold them in place, and lights on. All we have to do is bend down the branches and plug it in. At some point the lights will need replaced, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
I will never have a real Christmas tree in my house they're taki, small and always caused me to have an asthma attack
@0000030331 wow what a wonderful person you must be
I just came back from a store that were giving them away but also had other in store priced and there must have been about 40 of them! none of them will sell this side of Christmas, its just sad they had to be cut down, They should have known this year more than most the demand would have been low.
We currently have 2 trees. One at our house that is a few years old, fake of course. The other at our cabin where we are spending Christmas this year... its a root ball tree. It still has its massive root ball attached to it, held on by soil, a canvas bag, and metal wire. After xmas it will go into the ground and become a part of our cabin for long as it lives into the future. We might do this again next year, see how things go.
My family has had an artificial tree since Christmas 1974, because my older brother ATE the branches of the real tree the year before. Yes, he got sick. Yes, he was also allergic to the tree type (Grandma B had a real tree until 1987, so she knew not to but that type afterwards.)
Mom and Dad are on their fourth tree since then, because the original got sad looking by 1982, and we got a new one. In 1991, we replaced that one with a pre-strung tree. When us kids got older and became adults ourselves, Mom and Dad got a music box advent calendar tree (complete with lights and ornaments), for the coffee table... it suffered death by grandchild 5 years ago. Now, there's a fairly flat wall hanging that is in the shape of a tree.
Although, I know where the boxes of ornaments, lights, and the pre-strung tree are in the house. But, the days of Mom and Dad putting up a big tree are now over.
@RVault Gaming Because my older brother was maybe 9-10 months old at the time. And like all little kids, taste is an essential tool for exploration. Y'know the same reason toddlers eat dirt or lick things.
I'd rather just not cut down trees to decorate my house for a week.
There is no real downside of cutting down a tree. Its been grown specifically for this reason and the forests are in no way harmed by what is essentially agricultural produce sitting in your home.
This year, we ain't decoratin' 4 Xmas cuz my youngest brother is absent for college. I'm the oldest; my younger siblings are adults these days.