Real tree or artificial?
This is our first Christmas in this house, which means getting a tree, and our first question was immediately: real or artificial? We wanted to make the right choice about our tree and, at the same time, a sustainable decision.
Plastic trees
The truth is that these trees can be reused for a good long while, and that seems a better option to me than treating real trees as something disposable, given how essential they are for absorbing carbon dioxide. But high demand for artificial trees encourages more production, which leads to more CO2. The Carbon Trust, an organisation that develops plans to tackle the climate crisis, reckons an artificial Christmas tree around two metres tall has a CO2 footprint of about 40kg.
Real trees
There is obviously an industry growing and selling Christmas trees, and that industry leads to biodiverse areas being cleared, which is not what we want. So when we choose a real tree, which is a viable option, we should first find out why they are being cut and where the tree comes from, and, where relevant, whether it can be replanted.
If you are thinking about buying a new Christmas tree, here are two tips:
- if you go for an artificial one, given how long it lasts and how well it can be reused, buy it second-hand. That is a good way of avoiding waste.
- if you prefer a real tree, here is a suggestion, and the one we chose: Pinheiro Bombeiro, an initiative from the Portuguese startup rnters. It lets you rent real trees, which are cut as part of clearing land for fire prevention, and €5 of the €20 rental goes towards buying firefighting equipment for the volunteer fire service.
