http://environment.about.com/od/greenchristmas/a/christmas_trees.htm
Fake Christmas Trees and Cancer
Furthermore, several known carcinogens, including dioxin, ethylene dichloride and
vinyl chloride, are generated during the production of PVC, polluting neighborhoods
located near factory sites. Most of those factory sites are actually in China, where 85
percent of the fake trees sold in North America originate. Labor standards there
don’t adequately protect workers from the dangerous chemicals they are handling.
Fake Christmas Trees and Other Health Problems
In addition to PVC, fake trees contain lead and other additives designed to make the
otherwise rigid PVC more malleable. Unfortunately many of these additives have
been linked to liver, kidney, neurological and reproductive system damage in lab
studies on animals. The Children’s Health Environmental Coalition warns that fake
trees “may shed lead-laced dust, which may cover branches or shower gifts and the
floor below the tree.” So heed the advice of the label on your fake tree, which tells
you to avoid inhaling or eating any dust or parts that may come loose.
The Benefits and Care of Live Christmas Trees
The most eco-friendly way to enjoy a Christmas tree is to buy a live tree with its
roots intact from a local grower, and then replant it in your yard once the holiday
has passed. However, since trees are dormant in the winter, live trees should spend
no more than a week indoors lest they “wake up” and begin to grow again in the
warmth of your home. If this happens there is a good chance the tree will not
survive once it is returned to the cold winter outdoors and replanted.
http://earth911.com/news/2010/11/29/real-vs-artificial-christmas-trees/
The Pros and Cons of Real
There are about 500,000 acres in production for growing Christmas trees. Each acre
provides the daily oxygen requirements of 18 people. Photo: Flickr/looseends
Approximately 33 million real Christmas trees are sold in North America each year,
according to the U.S. EPA. Luckily, about 93 percent of those trees are recycled
through more than 4,000 available recycling programs.
Also known as "treecycling," the act of recycling a Christmas tree is a leading reason
many experts agree they are more environmentally friendly than their plastic
counterparts.
Treecycling is an easy way to return a renewable and natural source back to the
environment instead of disposing it in a landfill, where decomposition rates are
slowed due to lack of oxygen.
Christmas trees are recycled into mulch and used in landscaping and gardening or
chipped and used for playground material, hiking trails, paths and walkways. They
can be used for beachfronterosion prevention, lake and river shoreline stabilization
and fish and wildlife habitat.
A single farmed tree absorbs more than 1 ton of CO2 throughout its lifetime. With
more than 350 million real Christmas tress growing in U.S. tree farms alone, you can
imagine the yearly amount of carbon sequestering associated with the trees.
Additionally, each acre of trees produces enough oxygen for the daily needs of 18
people.
In order to ensure a healthy supply of Christmas trees each year, growers must use
sustainable farming techniques. For each tree harvested, one to three seedlings are
planted the following spring, ensuring a healthy supply of trees.
According to the NCTA, the Christmas tree industry employs more than 100,000
Americans, an important economic consideration in the real versus artificial debate.
Besides the aforementioned cons associated with real Christmas trees, they are
farmed as agricultural products, meaning repeated applications of pesticides,
herbicides and fertilizers may be used throughout their lifetime. The ideal tree
would be raised organically, using integrated pest management techniques rather
than chemicals.
Another con associated with real Christmas trees may depend on where you live.
For climates where coniferous trees don't grow, that tree in your living room may
have had to travel hundreds of miles to reach the lot, significantly impacting the
environmental impact associated with travel. However, a tree trucked from a couple
states away is still traveling thousands of miles less than one from overseas.
http://stateimpact.npr.org/texas/2011/12/09/how-green-is-your-tree-thereal-vs-plastic-debate/
But fake trees probably come from China. With about 85 percent
of artificial trees coming from factories across the sea, that’s a serious carbon
footprint. Slate looked at how much fuel would be required to get artificial trees
from Shanghai to Kansas: 2,195 pounds of fuel.
But real trees decompose and can be recycled. Plastic trees don’t biodegrade and
some of them can’t be recycled, “meaning they will sit in a landfill for centuries after
disposal,” according to the environmental website Earth 911. And 93 percent of real
trees end up being recycled, they say. That means that instead of slowly
decomposing in a landfill, your real tree is chipped up by a recycler into mulch that
ends up in lawns and gardens, and it also used “for playground material, hiking
trails, paths and walkways,” they say. Your recycled Christmas tree can also be used
to help prevent erosion, build up shorelines and wildlife habitats. Fortunately, there
is some consensus on the issue: real trees are better. As the New York
Times reported, real trees have an environmental advantage over artificial
ones. An independent study by a consulting group in Montreal found that you’d
have to use your artificial tree for twenty years in order for it to be a greener choice
than buying a real one every year.
But the lifespan of a typical artificial tree is actually much shorter, and not likely to
last for twenty years. Shorten that time period for an artificial tree to six years, and
what do you find? “The annual carbon emissions associated with using a real tree
every year were just one-third of those created by an artificial tree over a typical sixyear lifespan,” according to the New York Times. “Over all, the study found that the
environmental impact of real Christmas trees was quite small, and significantly less
than that of artificial trees — a conclusion shared by environmental groups and
some scientists.”
Like many product choices, the question also depends on who you buy your tree
from. With real trees, you have the option of purchasing from a local, family farm,
while an artifical tree is manufactured by a large corporation overseas. (A U.S.
Christmas tree trade lobby — yes, that exists — estimates some 100,000 jobs are
from the real tree industry.)
http://www.science20.com/science_motherhood/great_debate_real_vs_artificial_ch
ristmas_trees
An artificial tree may be used for 5, 10, or 15 years… but eventually it will be
disposed of it in favor of something new. Unfortunately artificial trees are not
biodegradable and cannot be recycled, so their disposal has a significant impact to
the environment. If disposed in a landfill, artificial trees will never breakdown but
rather permanently remain in landfills. If disposed of by incineration, the PVC in
artificial trees will emit into the atmosphere dioxins and other carcinogens into the
air.
Artificial trees are manufactured using a polyvinyl chloride (or PVC), which is a
petroleum-derived plastic. The raw material for fake Christmas trees is both nonrenewable and polluting. Furthermore, PVC production results in the unhealthy
emission of a number of carcinogens, such as dioxin, ethylene dichloride and vinyl
chloride.
Additionally, in order to make the PVC needles on artificial trees more malleable, the
manufacturers use lead and other additives that have been linked to liver, kidney,
neurological, and reproductive system damage in lab studies on animals. The
Children’s Health Environmental Coalition warns fake trees "may shed lead-laced
dust, which may cover branches or shower gifts and the floor below the tree."
http://envirodad.com/which-is-more-eco-friendly-real-trees-vs-artificial-trees/
While it seems logical to presume that artificial trees are the best choice, given that
they are used several times instead of just once by digging deeper into the
manufacturing process, you soon realize the eco-disadvantages. Artificial trees are
made with polyvinyl chloride (or PVC) which is one of the most environmentally
offensive forms of non-renewable, petroleum-derived plastic.
From a health perspective the manufacture of PVC has been known to produce
several known carcinogens such as dioxin, ethylene dichloride and vinyl
chloride. These carcinogens often work their way into communities and various
forms of cancer have been associated with them as well. About 85% of all artificial
trees sold in North America are made in China, Korea or Taiwan where
environmental protections are far less rigid than in North America.
Fake trees can also contain lead and other additives, which is used to make PVC
more malleable. This also creates health concerns since many of these additives
have been linked to liver, kidney, neurological and reproductive system damage in
lab studies on animals.
When it comes time to eventually replace an artificial tree, they cannot be
recycled. Instead they will be taken to landfill where they never break down and
take up scarce landfill space which has increasingly become a more significant
problem globally.
Real Christmas trees are also farmed on land that is usually not suitable for other
crops and instead of leaving the land vacant, the trees planted and grown there
stabilize soil, protect water supplies and provide refuge for wildlife while creating
scenic green belts. Typical with all other trees, Christmas trees provide a valuable
service to our atmosphere too as they absorb carbon dioxide and other gases while
emitting oxygen. It’s been estimated that one acre of Christmas trees produces the
daily oxygen requirements for 18 people.
maybe avoid using the fuel argument,
The good news is, while those trees are growing they help to sequester the carbon
dioxide that is produced by modern industries. Each year, an acre of Douglas fir
trees can absorb 11,308.7 lbs of carbon dioxide. And frequently, Christmas tree
farms are placed in areas that would otherwise be unusable. Due to their hardiness,
Christmas trees can be planted on barren slopes where few other plants successfully
grow, as well as fill in areas under power lines.
http://earth911.com/news/2011/12/01/buying-eco-friendly-real-vs-artificialchristmas-trees/
"But many experts believe artificial trees actually have a greater negative
environmental impact when all aspects of an their life cycle are considered.
Today's artificial trees are typically manufactured with metal and polyvinyl chloride
(PVC), a non-biodegradable, petroleum-derived plastic. In addition, many older
varieties may contain lead, used as a stabilizer in the manufacturing process.
Despite their PVC contents, artificial trees are non-recyclable and nonbiodegradable, meaning they will sit in a landfill for centuries after disposal.
Furthermore, approximately 85 percent of artificial trees sold in the U.S. are
imported from China, according to the National Christmas Tree Association (NCTA),
adding to their overall environmental footprint."