Christmas Trees: Real or Fake

[yvr girl]

What kind of tree do you put up?

[RevCheesehead]

1. Aside from the cost and annoyance, I am also allergic.

[Love Bug]

48. Me, too!

I love the smell of a real tree but I'm allergic so it's fake for my house.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

2. Mostly, I feel guilty for cutting down a beautiful tree

only to throw it out a month later.

So I do a fake tree.

[ingasm]

6. Real Deal With Phil McNeil

C'mon now, these trees are grown on big orchards or whatnot. They are grown to be cut down. It's better than having no trees being grown at all.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

8. And some cows are bred to be eaten, but I don't do that either.

Im sorry...I am not asking anyone to agree with me or change their opinions. Im just explaining why I choose a fake, crappy tree.

[kostya]

43. How is something bred to be eaten? Please explain that one to

me. - K

[SemiCharmedQuark]

46. It's really quite simple. .

A cattle farmer breeds cows knowing that they will end up at the slaughterhouse or possibly at a dairy farm. They're not raised to be pets, they're not raised to be work animals and they're not raised to roam free. The reason they are raised is so they can be killed and eaten.

[RevolutionaryActs]

30. I feel the same way eom

[greatauntoftriplets]

3. Real!!!!

A Fraser fir. They hold their needles for a long time.'

When the triplets come into the house on Christmas Eve and see all the presents under the tree, they literally gasp at the sight. They are 4 years old.

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

4. REAL

The plastic/tin/acrylic trees aren't TREES. And they just suck.

Nothing better than cutting down your own choice conifer right before Christmas with your very own chainsaw, putting it on your very own truck, and driving it home to trim and decorate it.

Yes, I live in upstate New York.

[Maine Mary]

59. I agree. We do the same thing & the tradition is just as nice as the

fresh smelling REAL tree. :-)

BTW :hi:
It's nice to see some fellow rural folk on here willing to admit it!

[donheld]

5. I don't put one up

I don't like to kill a real tree and i don't want a fake. so i skip it.

[sonias]

7. I want to support fake trees here

The option "Fake, I can't be bothered with real trees" was too negative for me. There is a positive side to fake trees - no real trees were killed for the sake of decoration purposes only. There is a wholesale slaughter of trees going on at this time of the year. Millions of them don't even get to decorate anyone's home. They just end up in the landfill.

Anyway fake trees can be beautiful too. They are reusable and yes they are convenient as well. Less clean up and less of a fire hazard in your home. Mine is fiber optic so it's even pre-lit.

Save a tree, don't kill one for x-mas.

Sonia

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

10. The thing is

These trees aren't just being "cut down". People created lots specifically so people wouldn't just go do that. The amount of trees are replaced 3 times what is taken out, in most areas. :shrug: Trees are used for a lot of things. In some cases they aren't being replaced, but in the case of most christmas tree lots - they are.

[yvr girl]

14. It's true

I grew up near a Christmas Tree farm. It isn't any different than any other crop.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

17. It takes years to grow a christmas tree...

Between 6 and fifteen years. Crops usually come in every year, and they are actually used for something, that is, food. Not all tree lots are responsible in that not all plant 3x the trees they take.

It's just so depressing after christmas to see once beautiful trees brown and discarded on the curb, waiting for trash day.

[winston61]

19. I recycle my real tree

My wife and I wait till the 2nd week of December to buy a tree at a better price and leave it up until Twelfth Night (Jan.6). Then I cut it up and feed through our chipper shredder and use it for mulch. I got old Christmas trees all over the place. I wish I could change the celebration just a little, don't start Christmas at Halloween and not instantly stop December 26. We try to make more of a real mid-winter celebration. OH NO, now a freeper will call me a pagan.

[Left Is Write]

21. We use an artificial tree, but ....

...we leave it up until the 6th also.

[RevCheesehead]

52. Hooray for Epiphany-Watchers!!!!!!!!

One year, I went crazy, and kept my (fake) tree up throughout Epiphany season. People literally slammed on their brakes to look at the crazy loon with her Christmas Tree all lit up. I also have an illuminated Moravian Star on the front porch.

[yvr girl]

27. You don't get fruit from trees right away either

I don't know about where you live, but trees here are picked up and mulched. They don't fill up a landfill.

You can also choose a living live tree and plant it.

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

29. Exactly

It's not like they just sit in a dump, they're recycled back into the environment.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

34. But when you pluck fruit from a tree, you don't kill the tree.

[yvr girl]

60. Fruit trees only last so long

then when they become less productive they are cut down.

Trees are not people, they are a renewable resource. Besides, it's not like we're cutting down old growth forests here. Most Christmas trees are grown on farms. The farmers make sure that they replant trees to sustain their business. These trees were also planted specifically to be harvested.

[RobinA]

39. Well...

there's no law that says people HAVE to kick their real trees to the curb in New Years. We put ours in the backyard next to the feeder for the birds to live in all winter. They love pine trees because pines are good protection. They can also be recycled.

[amandae]

42. Depends on where you live

In Montana (at least one part anyway) you can buy a "Christmas Tree Permit" for 5 dollars. This gives you permission to go out into the wilderness and "hunt" for your own Christmas trees.

[signmike]

9. Bug Humbar!

[Cush]

11. Fake, because of our cats

They would chew on the needles and climb up in them

[RevCheesehead]

13. My cats LOVE my fake tree!

They lie under it, and often walk under the lowest brances to use it as a back-scratcher.

They are very disappointed when the tree comes down.

[barb162]

20. same here, my oldest can't wait til the tree goes up; he stands

there and watches eagerly. Then when I put down this thick padded tree skirt, he goes right under there and I basically don't see him for a few weeks except when he comes out to eat. I mean that cat doesn't know me when that tree is up.

[RevCheesehead]

51. Even more appealing: the tree is in front of the heat register

I've got old "boiler heat" in the parsonage. The closer you get to the register, the more "snuggly-warm" you feel.

Cats really understand life, don't they? :)

[barb162]

56. yes, I put the tree right next to a floor register in a corner so it's

very warm, the tree skirt is very fluffy, he's protected in back by the 2 walls and what is better than having a tree protecting you from above.


Cats really understand life, don't they? :)YES!

LOL, LOL, LOL

[Cush]

53. yup, mine sleeps under it as well

until we start wrapping presents, then he wants to play with the ribbons

[barb162]

58. okay, mine does this too and that is about the only time I see him

when he decides to come out from the tree and eat or to play with ribbons and help me wrap. He also supervises my wrapping jobs and takes apart the ribbons off the presents if he doesn't like the final product.

[SW FL Dem]

12. I love real trees but they don't last long

in the FL heat. By the time the trees get here, they are dried out and they last only a few days before they become a fire hazard.

[Susang]

15. Why not both?

I love real ones and love fake ones, as long as they are tinsel and from the 50s or 60s. Especially the ones that are pink or silver.

Picture from this really cool website: http://www.suzanna-anna.com

[redsoxliberal]

16. fake.

[SheilaT]

18. I've done both,

and right now I'm back to a fake.

What I REALLY want is one of the silver aluminum ones with the rotating three-color light. We got one when we moved to Tucson when I was 14, and my mom was wanting to be done with the hassle of a real tree. I don't think they had fake evergreens back then.

I love the smell of the real thing, but they really shed needles and are way too much trouble.

[Bill McBlueState]

22. bah

Christmas trees are a pain in the ass. x(

Maybe I'll feel differently when I have a real house with enough space to do it right.

[HEyHEY]

23. REAL! I'm from BC goddamit!

Cutting down trees is a way of life!

[Nicole]

24. Neither

I buy a living tree & plant it in the yard after the holidays.

[flamingyouth]

25. I don't put up a tree

[Biased Liberal Media]

26. As good as the real ones smell I prefer fake

NO needles to clean up. Plus if I want that smell I'll buy some candles that smell like trees. LOL.

[scarlet_owl]

28. I love real trees, but they are way too expensive to buy

every year. I could spend that twenty-five dollars on a present instead.

[kostya]

44. There are usually forest agencies that give away seedlings

plant a few in the back yard, they only take a few years to get to harvestable size here in the NW. - K

[theorist]

31. No tree in my house.

Does that make me Scrooge-lite? I hope not.

[lakemonster11]

32. Real.

My family goes out together each year to get our tree. We listen to Christmas CDs while we drive and we go out to a Christmas tree farm and cut down our tree. We have a tall ceiling in our living room, so we like to get big trees. They always have a big bonfire and hot cider to get warmed up at. After Christmas, we take our tree out back and throw it in the woods, where it can become a nurse log for other plants.

[Piperay]

33. Vintage aluminum

I got one from a collectibles store a couple years back and that is what I put up. I figure if I am going to put up a fake one it might as well be really fake and bear no resemblance to anything real. It is so tacky that it is actually quite pretty. :-)

[Courtesy Flush]

35. Set fire to a real tree

We burned some leftover trees at New Years several years ago. You'd be amazed how flammable they are, with all that pine resin. They're practically explosive.

We decided never to have one of those incendiaries in our house. If it were to ignite, no fire extinguisher could stop it.

[ProfessorGAC]

36. Fake. True Story!

When i was 12 years old my mom, dad, sister, and i were getting ready to go my uncle's house for Christmas Eve. My mom talked to my aunt about 2 minutes before we left. We only lived about 15 blocks away.

From the time my mom hung up until we got there, a tree bulb popped. My uncle was sitting right there watching TV. The tree immediately erupted into flame. He couldn't get to the plug. So, he grabbed a bucket of water, while it was filling, he pulled the fuse. Then ran up and threw the water on the tree. It still didn't go out. In the meantime, my aunt had called the FD.

When we got there, the fire truck (station was 2 blocks away) was pulling up. Firemen put the fire out.

They had $6000 in total damage (in 1968) from a fire that started while my uncle was sitting RIGHT THERE! His quick thinking is all that kept it from being worse.

All this happened within a 4 or 5 minutes period! Since then, i've been on the "no real fir tree" in my house camp.
The Professor

[SarahB]

37. Usually real.

About every 3-4 years though, things get busy and I don't have the time to run out and get a real tree, so I have a fake one in the attic that I'll use if needed. I'm even more "bah-humbugish" than I was last year, so I guess I'll see what happens.

[Beer Snob-50]

38. real

and that is only because my company gives them to us instead of a christmas bonus.

[dr.strangelove]

40. Its all about the Noble Fir.

[laheina]

41. I hate to admit this

but I finally broke down and bought a fake tree.

As much as I love the real ones, they have gotten so expensive, that two years ago I waited until the after Christmas sales and got myself this 14 foot fake tree.

It takes forever to put the damn thing up, but it has already paid for itself. There's also the added benefit of not having to worry, as much, about burning my house down.

[cmf]

45. We don't put one up

For a variety of reasons:

1. The cat likes to pretend she lives in the wild and spends the entire holiday season in the tree. That's what she did the one year I put one up.

2. We always travel for Christmas.

3. We live in a condo and don't have room to store a fake tree or anywhere to really put one up.

It's just too much hassle, really. We decorate the mantle, put out some family heirlooms (our pyramid from Germany, our Christmas plates from my husband's grandparents) and call it a day.

[chaska]

47. I thought we were skipping Xmas this year.

[Jose Diablo]

49. Real of course

What could be better than going out with a good friend in the afternoon or early evening to a tree farm and selecting a nice tree. Cutting the tree down having it packaged in one of those netting contraptions and bringing it home on the roof of the car.

Then setting-up and decorating the tree while drinking plenty of eggnog with cinnamon. And topping the tree with an angel with a glowing bulb in her butt.

The sitting and admiring the glowing tree after the effort is very pleasant. The fresh aroma of pine and then placing the presents under the tree. Does it get better than this?

I don't know, maybe an artificial tree is more efficient, but somehow just doesn't capture life as it should be lived. Thats what I think anyway.

[sbj405]

50. I opt for the Festivus pole

[Aiptasia]

54. Hanukkah bush

I wish I had photoshop. Insert prez-bush with a yamuka and dradle here.

[TexasLady]

55. our old white tree...

our old tree has had it
its worn and its matted
and ugly and no longer white

it is old that is true
so i know what we'll do
lets get us a real one tonight!


so with holiday glee
we would shop for a tree
but not til the very next day.

with my kids huddled 'round me
and tree sellers pound me
with offers and bargains to stay

"dont go to the others
you children and mothers
and fathers and grandparents too!"

"come here! buy our tree!
we promise that we
have the very best tree for you!"

we saw big trees and small,
fat trees and tall.
dark green and light green and
white.

as hard as we tried
we couldnt decide
on which of the trees was right.


so when we got home
through my closet i roamed
and pulled out the old white tree

and smiling so bright
grabbing tinsel and lights
we garnished that lovely old tree


i wrote this as a bedtime poem for my daughter so we can save some money, but its what we are doing this year. i really do love our old white tree, but then if it were up to me id have a tree in every room! fake or real, doesnt matter to me!

[flygal]

57. I hate doing the tree thing - I got out of it three years in a row but

this year hubby insists! Guess we're doing a real one. bah humbug is right. I'm just not one of those holiday-decorating types.