Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Local Tree Farms

 I'm a big fan of Christmas trees. I love the colors, I love the smell, but mostly I love that I can lay down on my back under a tree right in my own home with my head close to the trunk, look up through the branches and pretend I'm the size of my thumb about to go on the climb of a lifetime. It's magical and beautiful and just about as close to being out there in the forest as you can get without being there.

I used to have an internal debate about real trees vs fake trees. I made up my mind years ago after spending one Christmas in Palm Springs, CA with my mother. She's probably about as different from me as you can get. She's a lady. We differ across the board - food, clothing, home decor, hobbies, politics, you name it. There are no two people more different. How she gave birth to me is the subject of great debate in our family. We speculate it could have been a true immaculate conception!

Anyway, her fake tree (much to my horror), was all white with white lights (that did not blink, thankfully), and gold, silver and maroon ornaments. It was perfect and looked elegant in her all white living room with her all white furniture set upon her all white carpeting. There was more white inside her home than there was outside -  a total reversal of winter here in Maine. The grass and foliage on the orange, lemon, grapefruit and palm trees outside were summer green. The surrounding mountains were brown with random spots of green. It was not the type of Christmas I was used to by a long shot - but it was my mother's dream come true.

Having broached the subject of real vs. fake with my mother taught me to keep my mouth shut. For me it was like trying to lead a horse used to drinking champagne, to water. For her it was another reason I could not possibly be her daughter. So for those of you who may still be in flux or worse in an annual debate with your mother, I have attached some info I gleaned from the Nature Conservancy.

Fake trees are usually made from a kind of plastic called polyvinyl chloride (PVC) which is derived from petroleum. Also - According to the Children's Health Environmental Coalition, the manufacture of PVC creates and disperses dioxins, which include the most toxic man-made chemical known. Released into air or water, dioxins enter the food chain, where they accumulate in fatty tissues of animals and humans, a potential risk for causing cancer, damaging immune functions and impairing children's development. YIKES!  

Electricity is used to melt the plastic, and approximately 85% of the fake trees sold in the US are shipped here from China. Most of China’s electricity comes from burning coal—the dirtiest source of electricity. Once the fake trees are made, they still have to be shipped across the ocean—usually in a diesel-fuel powered ship. More emissions still. (Fake trees also sometimes release lead when they get old, which isn’t a climate impact, but still is not a great thing to have happening in your living room.)





Real trees also grow in the ground for several years before they are cut, absorbing carbon out of the atmosphere every year. The vast majority of real trees today come from Christmas tree farms—about 12,000 of which exist in the United States. On these farms each tree cut is typically replaced by a new tree or two or three, which continue removing carbon from the air.

And once Christmas is over you can use your real tree in many ways—the boughs can be cut and used as a protective covering over delicate shrubs, the tree can be chipped and composted, and there’s the ever popular New Year’s Eve bonfire (if you live in an appropriate place for bonfires). Real trees can also be used to help trap sand on beaches, preventing erosion, or sunk in ponds to provide habitat for fish and other wildlife.

Finally, having a real Christmas tree is also about supporting our local Maine economy and farmers The National Christmas Tree Association has a web site and on it a listing by state of local tree farms near you.

So there you have it. I haven't read anything in support of fake trees, but I wouldn't post it if there was anyway! 

Tree Farm • 8" x 8" watercolor • Framed to 12" x 12" • $200




2 comments:

  1. Also - According to the Children's Health Environmental Coalition, the manufacture of PVC creates and disperses dioxins, which include the most toxic man-made chemical known. Released into air or water, dioxins enter the food chain, where they accumulate in fatty tissues of animals and humans, a potential risk for causing cancer, damaging immune functions and impairing children's development. YIKES!

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  2. Thank you! I have added your info into the blog.

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