Think About a Real Christmas Tree
An Eco-Friendly Choice Proposed by the Ontario Forestry Association
Using a real tree for Christmas may be more environmentally friendly than you thought. The Ontario Forestry Association encourages you to try one this holiday season
The Ontario Forestry Association is a non-profit organization devoted to increasing awareness and understanding of the Province's forests and proper stewardship of their forest ecosystems. With the upcoming holiday season, the Association is stressing real Christmas trees as an environmentally friendly option for the Yuletide.
In a recent press release, Executive Director of the Ontario Forestry Association Carla Grant clarifies this assertion saying, "Christmas trees are grown on farms specifically for the holiday, and while growing, they take carbon dioxide out of the air, provide wildlife habitat and provide soil and water retention. Real Christmas trees are also grown locally and are 100 per cent biodegradable, unlike artificial trees, which are often transported halfway around the world and are made from a non-biodegradable petroleum based product that requires a lot of energy during the manufacturing process."
The Association offers consumers a number of suggestions and useful information concerning the selection and use of real trees for Christmas. Canadian residents that own more than ten acres of land are encouraged by the Association to consider growing their own trees and qualifying for a substantial property tax exemption. A cut tree may not suit everyone; living Christmas trees are another option for using real trees during the holidays.
Tree Selection Hints
- Be sure your tree is fresh. A fresh tree will shed fewer needles on your floor
- Brush your hand across the tree needles. The fewer needles that fall, the fresher the tree
- Check the cut base for sap coming out of it as a sign of tree freshness
- Common trees on the market include pine, fir and spruce. Spruce will lose their needles before a fir
- Reject a tree with brown needles
- Needles of pine and spruce trees should be flexible and not break. It should be difficult to pull them from the branches
- Shake the tree and drop the base on the ground. If a number of needles fall out, the tree may be old
Tree Care Hints
- Cut a few centimeters off the tree base before placing it in water
- Water the tree daily
- Avoid placing the tree near heat sources that will dry it out
- Consider using LED Christmas light strings that use 90% less power and last longer than incandescent bulbs
Environmental Benefits of Using Real Christmas Trees
- Christmas trees are raised on often-marginal land not suited for other agricultural purposes
- Christmas tree farms provide wildlife habitat and improve soil conservation
- Plantations are successful carbon sinks, mitigating the carbon dioxide produced by cars and trucks
- An acre of plantation trees produces the equivalent oxygen demand for eighteen people
- Ontario farmers produce more than a million Christmas trees annually
- Real Christmas trees are biodegradable and can be used as mulch after the holidays
- Artificial trees consume petroleum in their manufacture and transportation to market
