We're only a few days away from Christmas. While families already have their homes adorned with Christmas decors, they may still opt to have theirs decorated during the Christmas week.
Are you one of the many who are just about to decorate their house this weekend? You may be among those who are planning to change their Christmas tree, too.
As you prepare to put on the new tree, you might want to consider the one that has a lower carbon footprint. But which among the two, the real or the fake tree, is more environment-friendly?
According to NBC New York, since fake or artificial "Christmas trees are usually made of plastic, their carbon footprint is 1,000 percent larger" compared to that of a real tree.
It's not just the material these trees are made of, the news site reported, but the fact, too, that almost 80 percent of them are shipped to the United States from China.
How to Offset a Plastic Tree's Carbon Footprint
Environment experts said that one would have to keep a plastic tree for ten years to offset its carbon footprint. In relation to this, New York-based Nature Conservancy executive director Bill Ulfelder explained, the average American household uses an artificial Christmas tree for roughly six years.
"What happens to the tree," he continued, is that "it goes straight into the landfill." And since it is made of plastic, it cannot decompose.
However, buying a real tree does not get us totally off the hook. If that particularly ends up in a landfill instead of going to a recycling center, a real fir tree can yield a maximum of 16 kilograms of carbon dioxide.
If we do the math and multiply that weight by the 25 million real Christmas trees purchased during Christmas across the nation, we are then talking about the major effect on the environment.
If we don't do the discarding of trees the right way, it can contribute to the production of the top two greenhouse gases accountable for global warming in the country: CO2 and methane.
Reduce Your Christmas Tree's Footprint in 5 Ways
Any way of consuming goods has impacts on the environment, but we cannot avoid it as that's a part of life. Especially this season, in this time of pandemic, Christmas trees are sure to provide people anywhere in the world lots of pleasure and joy.
All we have to do is boost the positive aspects and avoid or at least minimize the negative ones. Below, 5 tips from Inverse to lower the footprint of your Christmas tree this year:
1. Buy the real tree, place it in a pot, and use it for several years. When it's time to replace it, "plant the tree outside to live on.
This way, you'll even clean up even just a small amount of carbon footprint from your other celebrations of the holiday.
2. Don't bin or burn your real Christmas tree. Instead, recycle it by using it as a woodchip or compost.
3. Avoid trees purchased from a distance, especially from a store that's damaging the environment. Ask your seller where the trees come from.
To be sure, Invers recommends buying "directly from a local farm shop or National Trust site that's both producing and selling trees.
4. Opt for trees that are organically grown, if possible.
5. Some tree growers give a donation for each tree they sell to an environmental charity. It is important to ask this, as well, when you purchase one.
Check out more news and information on Carbon Footprint in Science Times.
