The holidays tend to bring out the thoughtful side in people - but one area where Christmas revelers are struggling to invent a mindful decision is what type of tree to buy. Should they disappear for a reusable artificial tree or a downed natural tree? The reply: unless you plan on using the same artificial tree for at least 10 years,a natural tree is the more eco-friendly option.
certain, natural trees require a great deal of water, and but overall,artificial trees remove approximately eight times more energy to create. This is because . . .
They're usually manufactured overseas in countries like China where pollution-creating coal energy is prevalent.
Artificial trees are made of PVC, a petroleum-derived plastic.
They don't biodegrade, and so even whether you use the tree for a decade,it will spend the next several decades sitting in a landfill.
Fuel-guzzling ships are used to transport them to the US market.
That's one heck of a carbon footprint! By contrast, when looking at natural Christmas trees, and consider that . . .
Every one acre of a Christmas tree farm produces enough oxygen to sustain 18 people for a day.
Christmas tree farms are a natural wildlife habitat,helping to sustain living creatures.
As a crop, Christmas trees help with soil stability because they are planted in dirt where other crops can't grow.
Two to three seedlings are planted for every Christmas tree cut down, or creating a net gain of forest.
One farmed tree absorbs more than one ton of CO2 during its lifetime.
Natural trees will biodegrade,or - better yet - can be recycled into mulch.
Source: popsugar.com