Christmas tree survey (free, house, the best, to live)

[Racelady88]

Just curious as to what everyone's preference is for a Christmas tree.

[Racelady88]

Nice to see no Bah, humbugs!

[deeptrance]

Originally Posted by Evey

Nice to see no Bah, humbugs!

Careful, the poll is young! If you've seen the movie Three Days of The Condor then picture Faye Dunaway saying it: "The poll is young!"

Implication being, things will change.

Me? Fresh-cut. The live ones are usually wimpy, and if they're not then they're impractical. Artificial? They look artificial. What a surprise. Plus, they don't shed their needles and smell good. I like those familiar aspects of the traditional Christmas tree.

And then there's the fire danger associated with a drying-out cut tree with lights on it, I like that! Ya know? It keeps you alert, keeps you on your game, and I don't want corporations constantly innovating ways for me to live my life without danger. We're all gonna die, stuff happens, let's just be responsible and not count on modern tech to always save us from our stupidity.

Wow, all that opining from a simple poll about Christmas trees.... don't ask me what I think about Iraq unless you've got 3 hours to read my response!

[Nea1]

I prefer fresh cut but cannot keep it alive for 30 days!! So alas instead of wasting the 60-90 for a fresh i went and bought a nice artificial.

[FL_TN_Nana]

Originally Posted by Evey

Just curious as to what everyone's preference is for a Christmas tree.

Oh, I just read earlier this week that real trees are actually more ecologically friendly as they can be replaced by the replanting. And the scent of Fraiser fir lasts forever. I was pulling out some Christmas decorations and noticed the distinct smell -- started sniffing around and found a part of the tree branch, brown and all, and it still has this wonderful aroma.

[deeptrance]

Originally Posted by FL_TN_Nana

Oh, I just read earlier this week that real trees are actually more ecologically friendly as they can be replaced by the replanting.

I was wondering about that. You're talking about cut trees, of course, since the live ones don't need to be replaced! Tree farms do ecological damage, as does ALL agriculture. It's unavoidable. But the artificial trees are made from processes and materials that are ecologically unfriendly. On the other hand, the artificial ones are re-used for many years.

So, how do the scales tip on those two? What did the study say about that, did they consider ALL the different aspects of both types? Remember, every acre of farmed land (most cut trees are farmed) is an acre lost to wilderness and natural habitat. It's not as eco-friendly as it might seem on the surface.

[Racelady88]

We dug our tree up this year at the tree farm. It is an awesome 4 foot tree that we will plant in the front yard after New Year's. We will decide next year if it is too big to bring back in and if so it will become an outdoor Christmas tree.

[FL_TN_Nana]

Originally Posted by deeptrance

I was wondering about that. You're talking about cut trees, of course, since the live ones don't need to be replaced! Tree farms do ecological damage, as does ALL agriculture. It's unavoidable. But the artificial trees are made from processes and materials that are ecologically unfriendly. On the other hand, the artificial ones are re-used for many years.

So, how do the scales tip on those two? What did the study say about that, did they consider ALL the different aspects of both types? Remember, every acre of farmed land (most cut trees are farmed) is an acre lost to wilderness and natural habitat. It's not as eco-friendly as it might seem on the surface.

I honestly don't remember the entire article, but I'll see if I can find it in the Orlando Sentinel online. However, I don't necessarily think all acreage should be wilderness or natural habitat. Otherwise we'd all be in a heck of a fix - or maybe live in trees. I don't see that it's any worse to grow Christmas trees than any other crop. And even with the e-coli threat I do like my veggies!

[deeptrance]

Originally Posted by FL_TN_Nana

...I don't necessarily think all acreage should be wilderness or natural habitat. Otherwise we'd all be in a heck of a fix - or maybe live in trees. I don't see that it's any worse to grow Christmas trees than any other crop.

Of course I agree with you 100%, just raising questions. Tree farms are far less destructive of habitat than a corn or soy field, which is what comprises most of the land in the midwest and south-central Canada.

Problem isn't that we have needs, the problem is that there are too many of us to sustain on this little ball called Earth. But we'll get ours, it's coming soon and our numbers will be reduced one way or another.

[TexDen]

Originally Posted by Evey

Just curious as to what everyone's preference is for a Christmas tree.

A fresh cut tree is the best! When I was growing up my grandparents would load up the grandkids and take us out to a friend's farm and we'd search for the "perfect" tree. I remember how good the house smelled. My mom had a tradition that she continued with us; she popped popcorn and we strung it on thick cord and wrapped the tree in it. It was great fun!

A side note and a good thing: Here in my part of north Texas we have a group that comes and picks up your tree once you're finished with it and they take it to a lake and drop it down for new "habitat" for fish. Kind of giving it back to nature - it's a bass fishing club that sponsors the tree pick-up and it's free and very successful.