It was early December, and that meant it was time to get the annual Christmas tree. We at all times go to a Christmas tree farm about 45 minutes away, the place we purchase scorching chocolate for the youngsters, choose and reduce our tree, and make an entire day of it. Like many environmentally acutely aware people, I puzzled: Are we doing one thing environmentally doubtful right here or is that this all-harmless enjoyable?
Full disclosure, I really like having a tree in the home. I really like the scent, it’s enjoyable to embellish with the youngsters, I like it when the tree lights are the one lights on downstairs — filling the room with a smooth heat glow. It’s a practice I grew up with that I might miss if it went away. So, I believed I ought to examine to know whether or not the Christmas tree business is one thing I ought to fear about. Sure, I really like having a tree, but when it finally ends up having an enormous damaging environmental influence, I used to be keen to make a change.
Earlier than I jumped into analysis, I requested my youngsters to see if they might be OK going with no tree. Three of them merely stated no. My 5-year-old simply hit me.
So that call was made for me.
However I figured I might do the analysis anyway.
Hardcore Christmas tree analysis
So, is the Christmas tree business destroying your kids’s future or is all of it a innocent custom? As with every environmental query, the reply is “it relies upon.”
Christmas bushes are sometimes grown on Christmas tree farms, that are monocultures. Monocultures, versus forests, develop only one tree or crop, in order that they don’t provide the ecosystem companies that forests do. Forests are extra environment friendly at capturing carbon and will, in fact, retailer carbon for longer than a monoculture that’s grown to be chopped down when it reaches maturity.
Forests additionally provide wildlife a extra everlasting sanctuary, do a greater job (as a result of they are usually everlasting) at refreshing the soil, purifying water and air, and defending towards soil erosion. Forests, in fact, additionally provide social and cultural advantages. Christmas tree plantations are good, however I don’t see one as a mountain climbing, tenting or leisure vacation spot.
Many Christmas bushes are additionally usually sprayed with pesticides, as are many meals we eat. Some break down within the rain and climate, however some possible stay on the tree while you take it house. You’ll be able to merely ask the place the place you get your tree if the bushes are sprayed or search out natural bushes. These at a “reduce your individual” tree farm are much less more likely to be sprayed than these you get at an enormous field retailer or the parking zone that turns right into a Christmas tree vendor across the holidays.
Emissions additionally would possibly matter to you. There are big Christmas tree plantations around the globe, and your tree would possibly come from a whole bunch or hundreds of miles away. Delivery that tree takes gasoline. It’s uncertain {that a} truck carrying a whole bunch of bushes over hundreds of miles is a low-emissions automobile.
Faux Christmas bushes made primarily of plastic and metallic do enable extra pure bushes to remain within the floor. However plastic bushes include their very own environmental challenges. The plastics, metals and different supplies that go right into a pretend Christmas tree include their very own air pollution and carbon footprint. It is usually value noting that about 80 p.c of the world’s pretend Christmas bushes are made in China, then bought primarily in North America and Europe. This bakes in a fairly giant carbon footprint to get a pretend plastic tree to its vacation spot.
Lastly, contemplate the disposal of a Christmas tree to know if the entire endeavor is environmentally pleasant. If the tree is burned, all of the carbon it sequestered will likely be turned again into greenhouse gases. If the tree results in the woods or in a landfill or is was mulch, most of that carbon will stay sequestered. My household is fortunate (or unfortunate) to personal two goats, who will gladly deal with our tree disposal for us.
Don’t underestimate your energy as a client
This stroll by way of the life cycle of a product — on this case a Christmas tree — highlights the necessity to revisit issues we take without any consideration and reassess how they have an effect on us long run. Can we, actually, must do issues otherwise from custom or behavior? With a purpose to handle local weather and environmental issues, we must take a recent have a look at these sorts of issues; what we eat, how we journey and the way we use power.
The environmental story of the standard Christmas tree is a small one and never a easy one. It’s nuanced. These bushes develop quick, so one might mature from seedling to Christmas tree in 5 to 10 years, relying on the species. They sequester carbon, present jobs and are a conventional a part of many cultures. I requested a forest skilled good friend of mine for her ideas on Christmas bushes, and he or she thought they’re principally innocent and never value a lot environmental fuss. The cons embody planting a monoculture as a substitute of a forest, the chemical substances and pesticides used to develop them, and a heavy carbon footprint in the event that they journey an incredible distance.
As with nearly something we purchase, Christmas bushes have an environmental footprint we should always contemplate as a part of the decision-making course of. Having an understanding of how issues in our house in the end get to us, makes us extra knowledgeable customers. Our decisions, when nicely knowledgeable, will in the end result in higher selections and higher outcomes for our surroundings.
A brand new enterprise alternative
You may also hire a tree, which arrives in a pot and will likely be planted later when it grows too huge to be in somebody’s house. I solely discovered a handful of locations that do that and none in my space. If any of those companies need to develop into my a part of the world, I’ll gladly enroll as a buyer.
