|
 It is nothing less than spectacular how realistic artificial Christmas trees have become since their birth in 1913. Modern science has allowed faux trees to be longer lasting, less expensive, much safer, and so meticulously detailed that the distinction cannot be seen with the human eyes, but must be felt with your hands in order to tell the difference. The manufacturing of these trees has become so great that artificial trees are now hindering the sale of real trees, and for many good reasons.
Commercially, many stores, hotels, and eateries that want to take full advantage of the holiday season will want to setup a tree at the beginning of November and keep it up until the second week of January. Many establishments with deep pockets will change out their real pine tree midway through the season, which is about five weeks. This is because real trees, regardless of the intensity of care, will dry out and become a fire hazard. A dry tree is highly flammable, and will burn surprisingly quickly and hot. A vast majority of realistic artificial Christmas trees are made with Poly Vinyl Chloride and are flame resistant. The cost of having two trees in the same year will be a significant one, especially with the expense of paying laborers to breakdown and reinstall another tree. On the other hand, realistic artificial Christmas trees can be put up as early as you would like and left up longer and the same expense. Some critics may play devils advocate and say, “What about the pine smell? You can’t beat the smell of a fresh cut tree in your house.” This statement has some merit, but all anyone needs for the same effect, is to make some real pine wreathes and put up several throughout the house where the needles can simply be swept up. It takes only a few branches off a tree to accomplish this, at little or no cost. You can always go to a tree lot and ask for the trimmings they are removing from the bottom of the trees at no cost.
Some ecologists will scrutinize and criticize realistic artificial prelit Christmas trees and say they are not biodegradable and recyclable like real trees, therefore are bad for the environment. Artificial trees will last six years on average, but much longer if extra care is taken. Think of the energy and expense of growing, harvesting, transporting, and disposing of 6’ to 12’ real pine trees. The carbon footprint is much larger for real trees than artificial trees. Moreover, investing in realistic artificial Christmas trees will prevent many real trees from being destroyed, the conservation of our forests therefore mitigates any harm from the polymer materials being put into landfills.
Above all of the benefits discussed in this article, an artificial tree can become a family heirloom to kids. They can take ownership of a tree that they pull from storage and assemble every year. They develop an attachment to it and anticipate the tradition of putting up their very own tree every year. This tradition adds to the allure of Christmas in your home each year. And like many other traditions that your family adopts, it can create an attractive nostalgia that brings kids home even after they have grown up.
|
