Xmas Trees: Are You A Real Tree Person, Or A Fake Tree Person?

[stopbush]

I've been a fake tree person for most of my life. There's lots of reasons, most notably that
they're much cheaper in the long run, and they're much easier to decorate than real trees.
Plus, the clean-up is a snap and the fire hazard is almost non-existent.

What's your preference.

BTW - no need to vote if you don't bother with a tree or don't celebrate Xmas/Holidays.

[Horse with no Name]

1. I have a beautiful flocked tree

I can re-use it year to year and it saves a tree from being cut down for something as insignificant as a decoration.

[NMDemDist2]

2. we have fake cuz DH is very allergic to pine

but it's great cuz they are so versatile

in a small house we had, we used to only put the front half branches in and it would fit against the wall or back in a small corner

this year we have a perfect spot in front of the window so the whole tree with get used this year. the other cool thing about using only half the branches, the tree lasts twice as long :rofl:

[deadmessengers]

35. We did the same thing

Last year we put half the branches up to save space in our living room. We called it our "hemi-tree". Worked like a champ, after we figured out that we had to weigh down the back of the tree stand to keep it from tipping over.

[waiting for hope]

3. There are some really nice fake ones

out there - we got one last year and by next year we will see a savings. I just got tired of dealing with all the mess.

[demigoddess]

4. real trees grow in the ground, provide oxygen for us, not just a week or so

of cheap thrills.

[tridim]

17. True, but Xmas trees are grown on farms..

and most are recycled or used as lake bottom habitat. We're not just clear-cutting pine trees and tossing them in landfills.

That said, I don't have any tree indoors, real or fake. However, I do have a 50 foot pine right outside my back door.

[demigoddess]

90. I prefer mine green and growing, you can recycle other things, such as

leaves and grass clippings. and other trees can be used for salmon habitat in streams, etc. I think the sheer number of christmas trees have a bad impact on the environment.

[FormerDittoHead]

5. I grew up with fake - it's a family tradition! n/t

[Mist]

6. Or my favorite option: free greens from the tree sellers (they do a lot

of trim work on the trees they sell). I put small branches of greens in vases around the house. I get the wonderful smell of greens for no cost.

[Xenotime]

7. It makes me said to see all those trees cut down...

standing in parking lots and tree lots. Deforestation in the name of an economic frenzy. How sad.

[Donnachaidh]

16. there ARE Christmas tree farms

that support people too. I don't think this is such a black and white situation.

[stopbush]

44. 100,000 people work in the Xmas tree industry.

Roughly 35-million real trees are sold each year in the USA.

[bleedingheart]

61. Indiana Pennsylvania, Christmas Tree Capitol of the World...

and home to Jimmy Stewart as well...

Christmas tree farms all over that area...

[laundry_queen]

42. My Grandfather used to own a Christmas tree farm.

He used to sell direct to consumer. ie: come to his farm and cut down a tree for 70% less than you'd get in those supermarket lots. They were beautiful and full. He always replaced his trees every year. Acres and acres of trees in an area that was otherwise treeless. He also paid his workers really good wages. *Most* Christmas tress, I'd say, definitely do NOT come from a forest. A lot of work and thought goes into making them so full and round. Ever see forest trees? Not normally that full. So "real tree" does not = deforestation. Quite the opposite.
That said, since my G'pa is retired - we have a fake tree. Got it for free. :) I refuse to pay the ridiculous mark up on a real tree in those lots.

[knitter4democracy]

103. That's what we do every year--go to a local farm for our tree.

We have several in our area (Michigan's rife with tree farms), and we go to one that has the kind we like. Worth every penny.

[NoSheep]

52. But they are grown in tree farms that were once open fields.

It really isn't deforestation I don't think. I've only seen them grown in rows on hillsides in the mountains. I'm no expert but...

[sandnsea]

78. Not exactly

Many tree farms are on land that was once forest. Still, I don't have the same problem with Christmas tree farms as I do with passing off tree plantations (for logging) as forests, and some people really don't know the difference.

[NoSheep]

79. Hm. gotcha.

[marmar]

8. I'm a no-tree person these days...

I hate to be such the Scrooge, but the crass commercialism of Christmas has really gotten to me lately. I don't put up any decorations (I'm single with no kids, so it's easier) and don't get into the "spirit" at all. I can't wait for the New Year to begin.

[CrispyQ]

43. "I can't wait for the New Year to begin."

I'm with you there!

I wish we could go from Halloween straight to New Years! We don't have kids either & haven't put up a tree or decorations in 19 years. The pooch & kitties, however, all get a few treats -- biscuits, catnip.

[azurnoir]

9. Voted for fake but..........

x-mas trees are farmed for that purpose, this year we decided to forgo our decade old fake and get a real but living, potted tree they can't take alot of heavy lights but it is pretty,

[TransitJohn]

10. no trees...no xmas

neither

[Kadie]

11. We have been using a fake tree for about 10 years.

I was having some real bad allergy problems every year around Christmas time, so we switched to the fake tree. I doubt we will every get another cut tree. The one we have already has the lights on it, and it is so easy to put up. I do miss the smell of the real tree, but I don't miss the allergy problems!

[Donnachaidh]

12. my fake one was murdered last year

by a kitten in need of kitty ritalin. So we're getting real just this year, because we have family coming and it will be a nice change. And I'll buy a new fake tree at the after Christmas sales for next year.

Yeah, I know -- it's a cop out. :eyes:

[NYC Liberal]

14. Heh, my cat once knocked over our real tree

with all of the ornaments on it. You talk about a mess...

[Donnachaidh]

18. me too. I'm soooooo looking forward to

that piney-fresh kitty vomit filled with needles. And We're already debating how to truss it up to withstand a mellower, but fully-grown cat this year. :bounce:

Ahhhh, the holidays! :sarcasm:

[NYC Liberal]

32. LMAO - same here. Our cat is older now, so more mellow

But she eats all the plants in sight and then throws up. *siiiigh*

[Alamom]

13. Save the real trees, we need them more than ever. n/t

[Norquist Nemesis]

15. I love real ones, but had to vote for face

We ended up going ahead and getting a (beautiful) fake one a couple of years ago. We love the smell of fresh pine, but at the end of the season the smell doesn't outweight the sticky mess of needles in my carpet and sap on the ornaments. Not to mention the annual cost. The fake one is a pre-lit with fiber optic glow thingies...it's now paid for itself.

I just light pine scented candles and put some pine scented glade in the air freshener. :)

[Benhurst]

19. I'm a tree-hugger, too; but Christmas tree farming is big business

in North Carolina. The trees are a renewable resource, grown and harvested for the Christmas trade. Have no fear, every tree harvested is replaced by a seedling for a future crop.

[Taxloss]

31. Conifer monoculture has its problems, though.

Conifer plantations are not living forests (well, not always, some are excellently managed) and many - uncertain as I am of North Carolina's climate and geography - replace healthier, more species-rich deciduous forests. Conifer monoculture can make soil very acidic as well, I believe, which can cause trouble after the farm moves on and the land turned to other uses.

But this is silly party-pooping, really, conifer plantations are hardly the world's #1 ecological problem! Better one of those than a field full of GM wheat or drenched in organophosphates.

[knitter4democracy]

104. We got ours last year from a tree farm closer to our new house.

They had problems with deer rubbing off parts of the trees, rabbits eating the bark, and birds everywhere. They didn't do anything but instead let the deer and rabbits have what they wanted. We got gorgeous trees (one for den, one for kids' room) and had a fun time. Good family-run place, too.

[porphyrian]

20. I like live trees planted outside, fake ones in the house. - n/t

[Taxloss]

21. No tree either way.

I think it's somewhat wasteful. I limit my decorations to a wreath on the front door.

My parents have a living tree, which spends most of its year in the garden and then comes into the house a Christmas, but I don't have the space for that!

[CrispyQ]

22. Funny story about fake trees.

My mother has a fake tree. One year she decided it took up too much room, so she only assembled half the tree & hooked it to her wall so it wouldn't fall. It was the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen. :rofl: :rofl:

My husband, wise ass that he is, told her that the next year she should only assemble 1/4 of the tree & put it in the corner.

[bleedingheart]

63. I laughed and laughed over the mental picture of that...

[lander]

23. Neither! :)

http://imagesource.art.com:80/images/-/Richard-Nowitz/National-Menorah-Elipse-Washington-DC-Photographic-Print-C10237748.jpeg

[goddess40]

24. Just bought a new fake one at the Festival Of Trees

Our old one was almost 20 years old. It's loaded with snowmen.

http://www.aspirus.org/foundation/festivaloftrees.php

I read recently that real trees are better for the environment and local economy, but allergies prevent having a real one.

[donco6]

25. I'm a no tree person.

I'm more of the bah humbug variety.

[SoCalDem]

26. Haven't put up a tree in MANY years

the cats create enough havoc without offering them a whole tree full of things to bat around :)..and cords to chew on :scared:

[blue sky at night]

27. the whole experience.......

of going to the tree farm and cutting your own, having hot chocolate and popcorn while sitting next to the woodstove cannot be duplicated by opening a box and pulling out the branches. The smell of the tree is another facet you can't get from fake. I always put my tree outside next to my birdfeeders until spring...then I get to see it full of birds too. Too much of what we do in life is fake, I like real....even bake my own bread this time of year.

[Eurobabe]

28. Real tree with root ball, to be planted.

You can only bring it indoors for about 7 days, and then you need to take it back outside.

[EFerrari]

98. I've been doing that for the last five or six years.

No casualties yet. :)

[Hissyspit]

108. See my post #107.

[Hissyspit]

107. I've planted two and they are both doing great. White pine in front of the house

is getting huge.

[EFerrari]

109. Mine are mostly on my mother's place. She needed a windbreak.

I think they're Douglas Fir and the two oldest ones are really tall now! When I bought them, they went on the tabletop. :)

[tularetom]

29. The demise of our last real tree is a family legend

Mr Siberian Husky chased Ms Mama Cat under and eventually up into the tree. Then stood up on his hind legs leaning on the tree trying to reach her. Tree fell over, cat ran out, dog chased and got tangled in the light cords. Pulled the damn tree all the way across the living room spilling water, breaking ornaments and droppin needles everywhere. We had to have the white carpet professionally cleaned at great expense which we really couldn't afford. At that point we said fuckit and went the fake tree route.

[bumblebee1]

55. This should have been a scene from

"National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation."

[bleedingheart]

65. we opted for fake after our real tree fell down twice..and once on our daughter..

we had the uncanny ability to pick the tree with scoliosis trunk every year...and getting it to be straight lasted for hours...and then it was typically a tipping hazard....

[Kali]

30. We cut a few branches from native juniper/cedar trees and tie them together with baling wire.

The smell is heavenly.

[SmokingJacket]

33. Fake trees are bugly.

And Christmas trees are a crop, just like carrots, so I don't feel guilty about it. Plus, and most importantly, real trees smell gooooooood.

[EdwardM]

34. I don't even have a tree.

Too much work!

[Skittles]

36. neither

not into that stuff

[demnan]

37. Fake Tree, Real Cat

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=243x22300

[Kadie]

40. ROFL!

What a great picture.

:rofl:

[Lone_Star_Dem]

50. Same here!

Too funny!

[originalpckelly]

38. And now a message from Pfizer: You too can get your wood back...

:rofl:

[JuniperLea]

39. I LOVE real, but use fake

I love, love, love, love the smell and feel of a real tree. Always have. Even though I know in my head that killing a tree for Christmas is no biggie because those trees were grown for the purpose, I feel my use of a fake tree is symbolic for my desire to keep all living things living. I do, however, buy a little live tree almost every year. My son has one in a half wine barrel that is more than 10 years old. I have one on my kitchen window sill that is from last year.

[valerief]

41. Actually I'm a Festivus Pole person. nt

[movie_girl99]

45. I have a 30 +yr old Aluminum tree

with a color wheel.

[hedgehog]

47. I saw some of those for sale this year.

I also saw the grocery story selling a "natural looking" pink flocked tree. I know it was natural looking, it said so on the box!

[CrispyQ]

68. OMG!! I would love to visit your house!

My grandmother had one of those. The rest of the family thought it was chintzy, but I loved it!

:toast:

[movie_girl99]

110. I love it too..i had one as a kid and have wanted one for years.

my sister has a little business where she sells contents of estates and splits the commission with the family, she found me one a few years ago just like the one i had growing up. my kids (15 & 20) love it too.

[Raine]

87. I have one too

I put it up every other year or so alternating with a real tree. I figure if you're going to have a fake tree it might as well be really fake. Anyway even though they are 'tacky' they are beautiful. I've had people who say they hate them have to admit that they think mine is gorgeous. :-)

[hedgehog]

46. The farmer who owned this place before us gave up dairy farming

and planted Christmas trees back around 1956.





He never harvested them.













My husband cuts down a tree every year and uses the trunk to make my raised garden beds.

[Zookeeper]

48. I've always been a real tree person....

I do think it's the better choice ecologically, because of the benefits of tree farming. We used to drive north to a tree farm and cut our own. But, then I realized one family per vehicle driving 30 miles each way to buy one tree is very wasteful compared to buying a tree that has "carpooled" with other trees into the city.

My first choice would be to have no tree at all, but that won't fly with Mr. Z. and the Zookids, who are also quite attached to having a real tree. Last year I decided I just didn't want to deal with the needle mess and fire hazard, plus I wanted to do something wacky, so I made my own artificial tree with a simple lighted tree meant for outdoors. After covering it with many gold-ish colored tinsel garlands, it looked very 60's. I called it "my beige x-christmas tree."

This year I plan to buy an artificial tree as long as I can find one that isn't green. If it's going to be artificial, it has to be flamboyantly artificial!

[laundry_queen]

49. We have a fake one.

For numerous reasons. We like to keep our tree up for a real long time (until Jan 8) and a real one would probably dry out before then and I am paranoid about the fire risk. Real trees are also hard to come by around here, for less than $100 (for a decent one). Our fake one is very realistic looking, easy to set up and was free (thank you shopping 'points'!). We all have allergies around here too.
I have nothing against real ones - my grandfather owned a Christmas tree farm and I think getting a real tree supports a lot of local, family farmers. That's almost why I like my fake tree though - my grandfather is retired, and all the other real trees look so scraggly next to what were his gorgeous full round trees that he took such pride in. :-)

[misternormal]

51. Real Trees... always... but....

I like to buy the ones that are in dirt, and plant them in the yard, or in a friend's yard, after the holidays...

[OregonBlue]

53. I used to use a potted Norfolk Island Pine which I had growing in my house.

Can't put lights on it (although they do have low wattage low heat lights now) but it can be decorated just like a real tree. My Norfolk died so I guess I'll go for a real one. The smell is so wonderful and yes, they are grown on farms.

[ItNerd4life]

54. Allergies.

We have to use fake trees because of them. We would prefer real, but oh well.

[Alexander]

56. Xmas trees are grown just so people will cut them down and use them.

These days, it seems like everything is fake. Beats me why people should add to all the fakeness.

[SheilaT]

57. I've done both at different

points in my life. Haven't bothered with a tree in three or four years, and it's remarkably liberating. However, if I could get an aluminum one with the rotating four-color spotlight, I'd put that up. It's a memory from my childhood and I'm truly sorry they don't seem to be making them any more.

added after a fast google search:

Turns out I really can get one of those. Not sure if I want to spend the money.

[bumblebee1]

58. I like real trees, but, we use a fake tree

The tree already has the lights on it. Real trees are great, however, they're a pain to clean up after. One Christmas, we had a potted Christmas tree. My husband took the tree out of the pot and transplanted it in the front yard. Unfortunately, the tree died. My grandmother had one of those aluminum christmas trees. it had the disc light and all. This tree did double duty as her Easter tree.

[Zavulon]

59. Fake.

Not so much to spare the wood, but to spare my carpet.

[Citizen Jane]

60. Real which gets recycled

Our city picks up the trees and recycles them for mulch used in the city's garden projects/areas. Extra is also available for pickup by homeowners to use in their own gardens.

[Buzz Clik]

72. My former burg of residence used to put the trees in a reservoir ...

for a fish habitat. If I were a fish, I'd think it was cool to live in forest of Christmas trees hung with residual tinsel and holiday memories.

[bleedingheart]

62. used to be real...but now fake

easier to set up...not a pain in the ass to clean up after and no arguments about..."who watered the tree last"...

[Retrograde]

64. I'm a no-tree person

although I have occasionally had a small potted plant indoors.

[JHB]

66. In my family it depends on the kids...

When I (and bro & sis) were kids, the family went outand got a real tree. Once we were all in our 20s and off on our own, my parents switched to a nice-looking artificial one.

These days, my brother and sister both get real ones largely because their kids enjoy the "go out, get, bring home, and decorate the tree" ritual. Not having kids, I stick with fake (and just a small tabletop one at that).

[mitchtv]

67. I love my fiber optic tree

constantly shimmering different colors. I grew up with real, then for years I had live. Then came the big dog. We lit an outside blue spruce for her lifetime, then we gave all (most) ornaments away to nephews/nieces. Moved to suburbia, got a tabletop fiberoptic that is just big enough to handle the old, treasured ornaments that we saved.

[geardaddy]

69. What about a choice for "no tree"?

[stopbush]

73. Read the OP.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

84. That Choice Is There: It's Called 'Hey, Don't Vote Then'.

[Buzz Clik]

70. We go to a farm and cut a nice tree every year.

[karlrschneider]

71. A no tree person. We gave them up years ago.

;-)

[warrens]

74. Trees are $50 here this year

I might have to go fake.

[Catchawave]

75. My husband's allergic to pine and fir trees!

[uppityperson]

76. real tree. Cut one off our property (thinning)

used to buy from local cub scout troop that was decent people (not going to argue politics of large boy scouts, but our local people were very nice openminded people), they got 2nds for free and sold them cheap. Hobbit tree anyone? Or a really tall tree?

I like real ones but can see why someone would want a fake one also. Real tree for us.

[Fierce]

77. Real trees cut from our own property.

We've got a bunch to spare, and they need to be thinned to keep the others healthy. They look sort of Charlie-Brownish, but they're awesome, because they're ours.

[sakabatou]

80. Neither!

It's Hannukiah time!

[roamer65]

81. Fake here...real trees are a blow torch if they get lit on fire.

I have a small fake one for just this reason.

[mnhtnbb]

82. Real tree, real cats (2), real dog and really tired at Christmas!

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

83. Fake Trees For All The Reasons You Mentioned.

[CanonRay]

85. After seeing "An Inconvenient Truth", I'll never cut another live tree.

And I have 90 acres of them.

[frankenforpres]

96. just think, if all thought like you

tree farms would not be profitable and we could have more room for wal-marts

[Raine]

86. Real

I've had both but went back to real about 5 years ago, nothing beats the smell of a real tree. :-)

[Mz Pip]

88. Real tree

I love the fragrance and decorating a piece of plastic just doesn't appeal to me. I have always had real trees and don't see that changing.

Mz Pip
:dem:

[martymar64]

89. Kill a Tree for Christ!

n/t

[B Calm]

91. We have not put up a tree in over 20 years! Gets in the way!

[earth mom]

92. I grew up with a fake white Christmas tree...that was knocked over a time or two

by my rambunctious brothers and I. Once I was grown up and had a choice, I went with a real tree and have been doing so ever since. I just love the smell of a real tree in the house! And since we moved to the Pacific Northwest from So Cal, what I love even more is the magical experience of going with my family to a Christmas Tree farm and picking out a tree-it gets all of us in the Christmas spirit. Whereas crowds at the stores and the crass commercialization of the holidays does the exact opposite. Sure, I do feel a bit of guilt about cutting down a living thing...but as others have pointed out it does help people earn a living. That said, I would buy a living tree in a nanosecond if I had any room left on the property to plant it...maybe I could donate it to the city for the park....now there's an idea! :D

[CRK7376]

93. We, as a family

always go cut a live tree, honking big one too. We have an old farm house with 10ft ceilings so we get a big tree and they are perfect. I can't imagine not having a real, fresh tree in the house.

[cynatnite]

94. Hubby grew up with real Christmas trees...

in Montana. They'd go and get their own. It was a great family time for him and his brothers. He hated having to get used to fake ones, but where we've lived the fake ones are more economical. That was our motivation. We do have a lovely fake tree now that he does like, but he still misses having a real one from time to time.

[Triana]

95. I'm a no tree person (n/t)

[Dervill Crow]

97. Wired to the ceiling - the one constant.

We've done both fake and real, but it always stands in the same place wired to one of those hooks in the ceiling used for hanging lamps back in the 1970s. We had four cats at the beginning of our marriage, and securing the tree is a habit we've maintained through the years of cats, dogs, and children.

[proud patriot]

99. Fake Is Good, Spare The Wood!

:woohoo:

[Subdivisions]

100. Real tree! Love real trees! Stuck with a fake tree. S/O's fault. n/t

[Generator]

101. Real, of course

The pagan sacrifice to the sun god to bring the ever green into the house. We even hunt and take their life ourselves and mulch them back into the garden minus the big branches.

[mtnsnake]

102. We just got our 1st fake tree ever. The lights are too bright so I put a dimmer switch

on it. We didn't really want it it for the lights, but it's hard to find a fake tree that doesn't come without them. They're so friggin bright, but I bought a dimmer switch today at Home Depot for $10 that simply plugs in and it works great in dimming it down. Otherwise, we'd have to wear sunglassses.

After 3 years of unsuccessfully looking for a 6 1/2' fake that looks real, my wife and I finally found one at Kmart that looks so real I'm gonna have to water it. It's a Just Cut Frazier Fir.

[AZBlue]

105. I have a 2 year old cat who thinks she's a 3 month old kitten = no tree for me this year

But it's usually a fake one.

[Left Is Write]

106. I like real trees in other people's houses...

I don't like to vacuum up pine needles in July.

One of my Christmas trees is a 4-1/2 foot tree my gramma used to have in her apartment, and which was given to me when I moved into my first apartment in 1985. It's still holding up very nicely, and I don't know that I could ever get rid of it. It's got too much sentimental value attached to it now.

[HuffleClaw]

111. i grew up with the smell of a real blue spruce at christmas

but somewhere along the line i developed an allergy to pine trees so we don't have a real tree now. we do have a little artificial charlie brown tree atop our bookcase. that said, to me one of the prominant memories of christmas was the aroma of the christmas tree, so its something i miss this time of year.