Real or Fake Christmas Trees – Best Eco Option

In eco-friendly circles it is often talked about, whether a real or fake Christmas tree is the more environmentally friendly option.

Christmas is a wonderful time of the year, a time for family, friends and get togethers. As an environmentalist it can be a bit of a stressful time of the year as well. I’m usually concerned about all the plastic and the waste that can go along with it.

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I’m usually doing everything that I can to have and use more sustainable things for a zero waste Christmas in general.

This year was the second year in a row that I tried to find out if a real or fake Christmas tree was more environmentally friendly. Of course plastic in general is not a great material environmentally, however I asked this question because generally reusable items are the most sustainable option for a zero waste Christmas.

Origin of Christmas trees

I’m not the most clued into Christmas really as I was brought up a Jehovah’s Witness and therefore didn’t celebrate Christmas as a child. Don’t feel sorry for me though, our family exchanged gifts on my parents wedding anniversary. This is actually quite common for Jehovah’s Witnesses to use an alternative date to exchange gifts. We always had a few special meals at Christmas time as well.

In case you aren’t aware, Jehovah’s Witnesses don’t celebrate Christmas or Birthdays because they originally were pagan events before Christians commandeered them.

However, due to this I didn’t really have a whole of experience with Christmas as an adult and didn’t have family traditions or any preconceived ideas on how to spend the holidays.

Evergreen trees

Throughout history evergreen trees have had special meaning in Winter time. In many countries it was believed that they would keep away ghosts, evil spirits and illness.

Ancient Egyptians and Early Romans also used to decorate their homes with evergreen on the Winter solstice.

Germany however, is credited with bringing Christmas trees into the home in the 16th Century. Some Christians in Germany would build pyramids out of wood and decorate them with evergreen and candles if wood was scarce.

It was believed that Martin Luther 16th Century protestant was the first to add lighted candles to his tree.

In 1846 there was a sketched picture of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert with their children around a Christmas tree in the London News. Queen Victoria was very popular with her subjects and what they did usually became fashionable. After this the popularity of Christmas trees in the home spread worldwide.

The late 19th Century with electricity, giant lit Christmas trees were placed outside landmarks in America such as The White House.

By the early 20th Century in America, trees were commonly decorated with homemade ornaments, whereas Germans continued to decorate trees with more natural materials such as apples, nuts and marzipan cookies.

By 1964 artificial trees were born due to an article in Times magazine featuring the polyvinyl realistic looking tree. After this they grew into popularity and majority of the homes today in the US and the UK have an artificial tree for Christmas.

Real Christmas trees

Getting to the answer from my research of if a real or fake Christmas tree is better. It was very clear to me this year when I was looking into it – was that a real tree is always the more eco-friendly option and the best choice for a zero waste Christmas.

Real Christmas trees are available as cut versions, in pots or versions that can be planted in the ground afterwards.

It takes 8-10 years for a real tree to reach an acceptable height for selling. However, once cut or potted a handful of trees are usually planted in place of that one so that sellers have a continuous supply.

While the trees are growing of course they will absorb carbon dioxide and produce oxygen which is amazing for our environment.

With trees that are cut, you can still use the old tree and compost it for nutrient rich soil for the garden. Or you can dispose of it at your local recycling centre with other garden waste.

If you decide to buy a real tree, buying as local as possible is the best option as then you reduce the emissions produced from transportation.

Real trees whichever type you get are definitely the more eco-friendly option overall. The work they do for our environmental overall out ways them being cut down in the first place. Buying a potted version which lasts a few years also is a very sustainable option for a zero waste Christmas.

When looking into suppliers in the UK I did notice that real trees were fairly reasonable in price as well. Around £50-£70. If you buy a potted version for around that price and it lasts approximately 3 years, that’s between £16-£25 a year.

Artifical (fake) Christmas trees

Artificial trees are made from polyvinyl and wire and the more cheaper versions aren’t exactly made to last.

A 2 metre Christmas tree made from plastic has a much higher carbon footprint, around 40kg of carbon according to this article. They state that this is 10 times more compared to a properly disposed of real Christmas tree.

The carbon footprint of an artificial tree is due to the manufacture of the tree. Not to mention any transportation worldwide, depending on where it was made and where you live.

If you have an artificial (fake) Christmas tree or you are planning to buy one then the aim is to use it as long as possible. It is thought that in order to make it worthwhile you should use the same plastic tree for between 10-20 years to reduce the impact. Therefore if you have to use an artificial Christmas tree due to pets, children or even money – make sure that you use it for as long as you can.

Summary about Christmas trees

When I was first researching and wondering what to do the Christmas of 2019, I stumbled upon this article. Real vs Artifical christmas trees. This article was really helpful to me and I weighed up the options of getting rid of my plastic tree and getting a real tree finally. However, I decided against it after reading this article as I realised that the damage had already been done in the manufacture of my plastic tree and the best thing I could do at that moment was continue to use it.

The tree I have is really nothing special and I believe I bought it in either 2012 or 2013 as I was settling down and seeing the magic of the festive period.

Due to the manufacture of artificial trees having such a huge carbon footprint they need to be used for between 10-20 years to minimize it’s impact on the environment.

This year I have decided to do the most eco-friendly option within my budget which is to continue to use what I have. I love how beautiful real trees are, finally having a potted real tree does definitely appeal to me. However, I am going to be patient and revisit next year.

Having a zero waste Christmas

On my discovery to find our if a real or fake Christmas tree more environmentally friendly, it really made me think a lot of what I had which was more environmentally friendly and suitable for a zero waste Christmas.

So as I had come to my decision not to get a real tree this year, I did want to use something other than plastic baubles to fill up my tree this year.

I’ve had these plastic baubles probably about the same amount of time as the tree itself but cheap plastic baubles are awful. They break easily and I don’t need to tell you why plastic is terrible for our environment.

Furthermore I decided to use these plastic baubles to make a wreath and I bought some mdf wooden decorations and I hand-painted them myself with some silver paint that I had. They look so cute and I’m really excited to use them this year.

Eventually I would love to build up a collection of glass ornaments, however they are expensive and I have children so this is definitely a future project for when my children are less at the destructive stage.

I also bought some Christmas bunting a few years ago which I just love. I don’t have a lot of Christmas decorations really and I don’t think they’re essential for everyone anyway. In recent years I have made more conscious choices when buying decorations for a more zero waste Christmas.

I spotted some beautiful Christmas decorations at my favourite eco-friendly store. Felt and paper decorations, (Andkeep Affiliate) affordable and cute.

Plus I feel like I have just enough to get my children excited for Christmas and that’s the main thing.

I hope you enjoyed my blog post, discovering if a real or fake Christmas tree is more eco friendly. Leave me a comment if you do.

Check out my sustainable Christmas gifts post for more ideas for a zero waste Christmas. Another thing to consider for Christmas is zero waste gift wrapping ideas.

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