Actually here in germany it has been a thing forever to get a tree with roots and all. You water it a little while it is with you and then plant it again in the ground.
Obviously this doesnt work for really large trees, but still.
Bizarrely it’s probably more eco friendly than not having the tradition since those tree farms probably wouldn’t exist otherwise. It’s not like the meat industry, it’s probably net positive on emissions.
Though, it would be better if we just reduced urban sprawl and deforestation of natural forests, etc., but that’s how it goes I guess.
My sister in law’s family owns a christmas tree farm in Maine. They do replant what they cut and more, and its just like 3 people running it since it’s all in the family on owned family land, so not bad for over 80 acres of evergreens
We have compost programs in my area, and they usually offer free christmas tree disposal. Some programs mulch them, and I think the Parks&Rec department uses the mulch to maintain parks.
Absolutely no downside, we should be advocating for natural trees vs the fake ones.
Though, i must admit I’m guilty of temptation – the thought of not having to wrangle lights with a prelit tree does entice me (i haven’t given in though ✊)
I guarantee you that’s a tree farm. I’d gladly be proved wrong
The uniform height, spacing, and lush branches are a key clue. I wish I took pictures on my last trip so I could show you what I’m talking about, but I was traveling through a place undergoing logging. In the forest, like you’re thinking, the lower branches are dead because the crowns are crowding out the light. In the understory, lower light plants thrive, ones who can’t really take full sun all day
I say this to hopefully assuage your feelings about the picture. The tree did what it was meant to do, and in a spectacular way
Thanks! Your comment did help. Being an environmentalist is a special kind of torture. The idea that the climate change our species created is eventually going to wipe us out is actually kind of comforting. Earth will bounce back in a few million years and there will be almost zero evidence we were here at all. It’s genuinely a nice thought.
I meant that lightheartedly, though I do think that doing 5+ year grows on agricultural lots for purely gimmick purposes isn’t too great, at least from a resource management and ecology standpoint. I’m not here to argue against christmas trees though, I just think LePoisson’s rebuttal that one instance of a thing isn’t a problem because we do lots of instances of that thing is logically flawed. I’m here to argue against the bad logic, not the trees.
Fair, I misread the tone. What it does to the soil, I couldn’t say. Though assuming they aren’t burned it’s probably decent carbon sequestering. I’d guess a tree farm isn’t all that different than a forest.
So that previously healthy tree, which took a decade or more to reach that height, gets to die for a gimmick.
All Christmas trees get to die for a gimmick. What do you think the tree farms are for?
Actually here in germany it has been a thing forever to get a tree with roots and all. You water it a little while it is with you and then plant it again in the ground.
Obviously this doesnt work for really large trees, but still.
Bizarrely it’s probably more eco friendly than not having the tradition since those tree farms probably wouldn’t exist otherwise. It’s not like the meat industry, it’s probably net positive on emissions.
Though, it would be better if we just reduced urban sprawl and deforestation of natural forests, etc., but that’s how it goes I guess.
My sister in law’s family owns a christmas tree farm in Maine. They do replant what they cut and more, and its just like 3 people running it since it’s all in the family on owned family land, so not bad for over 80 acres of evergreens
Its definitely more eco friendly, the alternative is plastic trees which are worse for the environment.
Christmas trees capture CO2 while they mature and are biodegradable/renewable
We have compost programs in my area, and they usually offer free christmas tree disposal. Some programs mulch them, and I think the Parks&Rec department uses the mulch to maintain parks.
I don’t really see a big downside.
Absolutely no downside, we should be advocating for natural trees vs the fake ones.
Though, i must admit I’m guilty of temptation – the thought of not having to wrangle lights with a prelit tree does entice me (i haven’t given in though ✊)
Yeah, fair point. I guess the “before” pic looked enough like a forest that this just really bummed me out.
I guarantee you that’s a tree farm. I’d gladly be proved wrong
The uniform height, spacing, and lush branches are a key clue. I wish I took pictures on my last trip so I could show you what I’m talking about, but I was traveling through a place undergoing logging. In the forest, like you’re thinking, the lower branches are dead because the crowns are crowding out the light. In the understory, lower light plants thrive, ones who can’t really take full sun all day
I say this to hopefully assuage your feelings about the picture. The tree did what it was meant to do, and in a spectacular way
Thanks! Your comment did help. Being an environmentalist is a special kind of torture. The idea that the climate change our species created is eventually going to wipe us out is actually kind of comforting. Earth will bounce back in a few million years and there will be almost zero evidence we were here at all. It’s genuinely a nice thought.
man i wanna see earth of just nature :/
I feel like that makes the problem seem much worse, and not better?
What problem? It’s a tree from a tree farm that was grown for this purpose.
I meant that lightheartedly, though I do think that doing 5+ year grows on agricultural lots for purely gimmick purposes isn’t too great, at least from a resource management and ecology standpoint. I’m not here to argue against christmas trees though, I just think LePoisson’s rebuttal that one instance of a thing isn’t a problem because we do lots of instances of that thing is logically flawed. I’m here to argue against the bad logic, not the trees.
Fair, I misread the tone. What it does to the soil, I couldn’t say. Though assuming they aren’t burned it’s probably decent carbon sequestering. I’d guess a tree farm isn’t all that different than a forest.