Modern dilemma: Is real or fake better -- for the environment ?

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Dec 8, 2006 | by Suzanne Bohan

Here's a holiday conundrum that's part of modern life for eco- conscious consumers: Which poses less environmental burden, a live or plastic Christmas tree?

The answer, experts on all side of the debate say, isn't (to borrow a logging term) so clear cut.

Dashka Slater, author of an article on the debate for Sierra Magazine, published by the Sierra Club, says she buys a real tree each year for her Oakland home.

But was that a twinge of conflict in her voice?

"Completely," she said. "It's a difficult choice to make. I know there are a lot of pesticides put into that tree, and a lot of diesel used to get it to the parking lot where I bought it."

But Christmas tree farms also absorb CO2, generate oxygen, provide habitat for animals and jobs for Americans, pointed out Danny Sare, owner of Santa's Tree Farm in Half Moon Bay, which grows 60 acres of Christmas trees like Douglas fir, redwoods and white fir.

Mountain quail frequent the farm to feed off the new grass that grows between tree rows after mowing. So do cottontail rabbits. Deer use the trees for cover, and scores of birds take shelter in their branches.

He does use pesticides to control aphids and mites, which he said are impossible to manage without the chemicals. But Sare said they're applied judiciously and follow state guidelines to protect the environment.

Many trees are also recycled and turned into mulch. Sare said he now buys mulch made from Christmas trees. "So some of it's coming back to us anyway," he said.

Sam Minturn, head of the California Christmas Tree Association, is familiar with the debate over harvested Christmas trees, and he's got ready answers.

In addition to the environmental benefits (and he insisted the pesticide effect is negligible) Minturn said tree farms provide 10,000 part- and full-time jobs for Americans. He and other association members also take children on tours of tree farms, to give lessons in ecology. And for every Christmas tree cut, he added, two or three seedlings are planted.

In response to advisories by some environmental groups to buy artificial trees as a more environmentally benign alternative to real trees, the National Christmas Tree Association's takes aim at what it deems the environmental ills of the plastic conifers.

The trees are made of petroleum-based products and take centuries to decompose, it notes on its Web site. Most artificial Christmas trees are also thrown out in less than a decade, the association added. And 85 percent of the trees are manufactured in China.

To underscore the anathema it insists plastic trees pose, the industry association offers visitors (especially young ones) a colorful online game, "Can anyone stop the ... Attack of the mutant artificial trees?"

However, Thomas Harman, owner of an artificial tree company in Redwood City called Balsam Hill, takes exception to the association's estimate of how long a plastic tree lasts, as well as the aggressive tone it adopts.

"If I were them, I'd focus on marketing the warm, fuzzy feeling of cutting a tree down," he said, "rather than trying to scare people" with what the association deems the environmental hazards of plastic trees.

There's a reason the Christmas tree association is spreading its message about artificial trees.

Between 2001 and 2005, sales of artificial trees climbed from 7.3 million annually to 9.3 million.

Harman's firm sells its trees online and through its retail store in Palo Alto. Trees start at $72. Their most expensive, a life-like 9-foot artificial Vermont white spruce, runs $2,300. "I'm about to sell out of that," Harman added.

He noted that the tree association alludes to the lead content of some artificial trees. The heavy metal is contained in trace amounts in Christmas tree lights, which come pre-attached to many plastic trees. But they also usually adorn live trees. Moreover, Harman added, with the fake trees, the lights tend to work consistently year to year, rather than becoming a tangled mess that many people throw out, adding lead to the landfill.

"We provide a 10-year warranty," Harman emphasized, responding to allegations of a short life span for plastic pines, and he expects his company's trees to last much longer.

While his trees are manufactured in China and require large amounts of fuel to ship, "That's one trip," he said, compared with annual shipping of live trees.

Harman was quick to emphasize that he's not knocking traditional Christmas conifers.

"We're not trying to compete with real trees," Harman said. "We're trying to provide a convenience." Artificial trees, he noted, don't drop leaves, drip sap or require watering.

Harman, who has a degree in environmental science, said there are trade-offs all around. And the environmental questions surrounding real versus fake Christmas trees, while relevant, aren't the most pressing issues of the day.

"Compared to other issues, this is probably not one of the top 50," he said.

Slater, the writer for Sierra Magazine, said she makes peace with her decision to buy a live tree by exercising environmental restraint during the holidays in other areas.