Real Christmas Trees: The Best Choice. Each holiday season, shoppers find themselves confronted with a choice: celebrate with a fresh, real tree, or one that is artificial plastic or aluminum. What most people don’t realize is that the best choice has always been the traditional and natural choice – a Real Christmas Tree.
Real Christmas Trees Benefit the Environment. While they’re growing, Real Christmas Trees support life by absorbing carbon dioxide and other gases and emitting fresh oxygen. The farms that grow Christmas Trees stabilize soil, protect water supplies and provide refuge for wildlife while creating scenic green belts. Often, Christmas Trees are grown on soil that doesn’t support other crops.
Real Christmas Trees Are Renewable. Real Christmas Trees are grown on farms just like any other crop. To ensure a constant supply, Christmas Tree growers plant one to three new seedlings for every tree they harvest. On the other hand, artificial trees are a petroleum-based product manufactured primarily in Chinese factories. The average family uses an artificial tree for only six to nine years before throwing it away, where it will remain in a landfill for centuries after disposal.
Real Christmas Trees Are Recyclable. Real Christmas Trees are biodegradable, which means they can be easily reused or recycled for mulch and other purposes.
Real Christmas Trees Help Preserve Green Spaces. Christmas Trees are often grown on soil that does not support other crops. Learn more about the National Christmas Tree Association’s support of Project Evergreen.
See more benefits of Real Christmas Trees here: Real Christmas Tree Environmental Benefits
Quick Tree Facts
- There are approximately 25-30 million Real Christmas Trees sold in the U.S. every year.
- There are close to 350 million Real Christmas Trees on Christmas Tree farms in the U.S. alone, all planted by farmers.
- The top Christmas Tree producing states are Oregon, North Carolina, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Washington.
- North American Real Christmas Trees are grown in all 50 states and Canada. Eighty percent (80%) of artificial trees worldwide are manufactured in China, according to the U.S. Commerce Department.
- There are more than 4,000 local Christmas Tree recycling programs throughout the United States.
- For every Real Christmas Tree harvested, 1 to 3 seedlings are planted the following spring.
- There are about 350,000 acres in production for growing Christmas Trees in the U.S.; much of it preserving green space.
- There are close to 15,000 farms growing Christmas Trees in the U.S., and over 100,000 people are employed full or part-time in the industry.
- It can take between 4 and 15 years to grow a tree of typical height (6 – 7 feet), but the average growing time is 7 years.
See more tree facts here: Real Christmas Tree Facts
Compiled by the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service and the National Christmas Tree Association (NCTA).
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