SAN DIEGO — Many of us are getting into the holiday spirit and that means picking out and putting up a Christmas tree. But, what's better for the environment an artificial or real tree?
"They were farm-raised, farm-grown, they were cut, and that land will be replanted. So, if somebody is selling 800,000 trees, they probably have four million trees in the ground," explained Mike Osborne. Osborne and his family have operated Pinery Christmas Trees since 1992. All of their trees come out of the Pacific Northwest.
Some will say by cutting down living trees you're removing carbon scrubbers from the forest.
"For every one of these that are cut, they grow one to two more the following year," said Osborne.
The average Christmas tree grows for seven to 10 years and during this, it sequestered carbon from the atmosphere.
"Its carbon footprint is nothing, it's taking carbon from the atmosphere and it's helping the environment," Osborne continued.
Osborne conceded that transporting from the Pacific Northwest adds to the carbon footprint.
"If you compare that to a product that comes from overseas and across oceans to get here," he noted.
According to OneTreePlanted, you're looking at 88 pounds of CO2 per artificial tree to make and bring here. And then what do when they're spent, do they decompose? According to Osborne, they don't.
Real trees can be re-purposed and turned into mulch. There are alternatives to both. You can rent a living Christmas tree or think about buying one that you can plant or donate after the holidays.
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