Christmas Trees: Worth The Climate Change?

This Holiday Symbol May Prevent Snow for Years To Come

Every year around 30 million living Christmas trees are harvested and sold, according to realchristmastrees.org. The majority of these trees are destined to be discarded, releasing carbon dioxide, methane, and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. 

But what kind of tree is best for the environment? Is it better to cut down a tree or buy a fake one? And does the way you dispose of your tree matter? 

When you buy a real Christmas tree, it has gone through four to 15 years of growth, absorbing carbon dioxide to make more branches and nettles. Over 350 million Christmas trees are currently growing in the U.S., and when cut down they continue to absorb CO2 until they die. The amount of CO₂ they release is dependent on how you dispose of the tree. Common methods include chipping, burning, and disposal in landfills. These methods generate between 3.5kg and 16kg of CO₂, with disposal in landfills being the worst offender, as it also produces methane. Most tree farms plant a new tree for every one cut down, but how much CO₂ they absorb while young is highly variable. Cutting down a Christmas tree, driving it home, and driving it to a dump also produces additional greenhouse gases.

Fake Christmas trees are typically made of aluminum and a plastic composite. Eighty percent of them produced worldwide come from China, so the carbon footprint of transportation is immense. Aluminum is one of the worst metals for energy intensivity during production, and plastic isn’t biodegradable, so fake trees seem like a worse option at face value. However, the fake Christmas tree can be reused year after year. When eventually thrown away, it will have had a carbon cost of 40kg. This seems to be well worth it if you use it for more than ten years. However, many families don’t have this foresight.

Real Christmas trees can be disposed of in many more sustainable ways, creating habitats for animals, such as dumping into streams to protect shoals of fish. The best way to have a Christmas tree is potted. If a Christmas tree is potted it can both be reused and it will absorb carbon dioxide throughout its life. 

The demand for new Christmas trees every year is not good for the environment. While Christmas tree farmers might assure the public that the constant growth of the farm decreases carbon footprint, it spells ecological disaster. As exemplified by the rubber blight and the hazelnut blight, growing many identical trees uniformly in rows can have unintended consequences. It may not be in our lifetime, but it is definitely a problem that the Christmas tree is produced in the way it is. Without guidelines to prevent blight, we could face huge deforestation of all fir species in North America. 

The Christmas tree may seem like a humble ornament of the holidays, but there are many implications for its use. Whether your family cuts a tree, reuses a fake one, or doesn’t have a tree, it is important to think about how this product of commercialized holidays does to the planet.

Article by Emmett Coughlan