Should cutting down Christmas trees be banned?

[Andrew NDB]

With rapid wildfires going on everywhere in the continental United States even now at the end of Fall (and even in other parts of the world) and adding to a an already pre-existing and rapid deforestation... should the practice of cutting down of trees to be Christmas Trees be outlawed?

[neatoman]

Aren't the pines that get turned into christmas trees grown specifically for that purpoese? They're not really part of a natural forest as much as they're crops. It would be like banning wheat farming because the grass fields catch fire.

[Redeemer]

Originally Posted by neatoman

Aren't the pines that get turned into christmas trees grown specifically for that purpoese? They're not really part of a natural forest as much as they're crops. It would be like banning wheat farming because the grass fields catch fire.

yeah hear in the U.S. they are usually grown on "Tree Farms". It's not deforestation when they are from a tree farm, but if they are being cut down in the wild in actual forest then yeah we should probably ban cutting trees down.

[Tetsu Deinonychus]

Pretty much what the last too posters said. Tree farm trees are grown for that specific purpose. It's not like people are clearing forests for the X-mas tree industry.

[Utrommaniac]

Yeah, and of course since it's a "tree farm", saplings are replanted constantly for every big tree that's cut down.


I can't think of many people who would be cutting down wild trees, or would even need to, but there's dozens of reasons why you probably don't want wild trees in your house anyway. I'm also pretty sure Christmas trees are growing on the other side of the country, so they wouldn't be affected by the forest fires on the Pacific Northwest. My family typically gets "live wreaths" from a company in Minnesota, which replants seven saplings for every grown tree they cut down.

[sdp]

Well the thread has already been answered, but yeah the christmas tree industry actually plants more trees than it cuts down. There are also studies that you'd need to keep a plastic christmas tree for an obscene amount of years to somehow make it a better alternative over a real one. In any case you can also now rent potted trees that you water and return once X-Mas is over but that somehow seems somewhat not as ecofriendly as it sounds but I don't think there's any research yet.

[DarkFell]

I laughed at the 'I Punch Trees' option. I might have to click on that one just for the giggles.

Both my Dad and I used to buy real pine / Christmas trees, then we settled for artificial pre-lighted trees instead. Less mess and artificial trees can last nearly forever depending on how thoughtfully they are stored away for the other eleven months.

Every year it is the same - the real trees get put out in front of the stores before Thanksgiving. Can somebody tell me if they live throughout Christmas Day because, my folks assume that it would look um.. less alive before Christmas Eve.

[Wildcat]

Originally Posted by sdp

Well the thread has already been answered, but yeah the christmas tree industry actually plants more trees than it cuts down. There are also studies that you'd need to keep a plastic christmas tree for an obscene amount of years to somehow make it a better alternative over a real one. In any case you can also now rent potted trees that you water and return once X-Mas is over but that somehow seems somewhat not as ecofriendly as it sounds but I don't think there's any research yet.

Are you referring to that guy on Shark Tank? I thought it was pretty dumb. It was hundreds of dollars to rent one. I think Mark Cuban invested in it. Although I’ve read not every on-air deal actually goes through.

We have a fake tree. It’s cleaner and easier to put up. We used to get real ones when I was younger but it was quite a chore.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Originally Posted by DarkFell

Less mess and artificial trees can last nearly forever depending on how thoughtfully they are stored away for the other eleven months.

If you have space in your basement or attic or happen to have a big wardrobe in your house or apartment, you can keep it standing there (undecorated) throughout the rest of the year.

[DarkFell]

^ I lack both a basement and enough room to accommodate a big tree in my attic. So, it stays in a big tree bag in the garage.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Some people already do it the illegal way.

Walk into the forest, pick up a tree and cut it down, and then they escape before the landowner appears.

[Utrommaniac]

Yeah, but not nearly enough for it to make much of a difference in the fight against wildfires that don't even happen where the tree farms are.

[IndigoErth]

Only those from the wild.

You could call me a tree hugger, always have kinda been at heart. I've been torn on the whole idea of it though for a long time. I miss having a live tree after we gave them up years ago thanks to one of the cats. But on the other hand, I've always felt bad for cutting it. We always cut it ourselves (or rather my dad did when he was alive) at a tree farm, but I always felt bad for choosing it as the one to kill. (Well, parents chose it.) Pine aren't fast growing, it took it years to get that size, just to up and be killed to stand in someone's house for a week or two.

So, switching to a fake is bitter sweet. Last year my mom found a nice fake long needle though (which we always preferred and had started getting hard to find at tree farms anyhow), so that helps a little.

However I kind of hate how they are sold on lots already cut. If you want live you should have to go to a tree farm to get it and have it cut there or do it yourself. Always kind of broke my heart as a kid to see all of the left overs still standing there Christmas morning when we'd pass tree lots on our way to my grandparent's place. Killed for nothing. At most, they should limit the daily inventory so fewer remain in the end...

And personally I kind of hate that one current car commercial. I know they're trying to show the car as rugged, but depicting cutting a pine from the wild for it sucks.


And those fires... Maybe they aren't like us and other animals, but they and other plants are still living things. At least people and animals can try to save themselves. The poor trees and plants just have to stand there and take it. At least they hopefully can't feel pain, but there have been studies that have suggested that they may be at least a little more aware of things, in their own way, than we realize.



So, yeah... tree hugger. After all, I've got the last sapling of a beloved tree of mine, murdered by family members last year, in a pot in the basement waiting to be planted next spring and will worry about it the whole winter, as I did last winter, hoping it is only dormant.

[The Deadman]

If I had a basement big enough to keep the tree standing, I'd keep it decorated too...just wouldnt turn it on until December, lol.

[MsMarvelDuckie]

I dislike killing a live tree, but I wouldn't ban it for others. I keep our large fake tree boxed most of the year- it comes apart and fits neatly in the closet. And then there is my little tree, that stays out year round now. I just redecorate it for different holidays.