Keeping It Real - The Case For The Christmas Tree

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Some environmentalists have tried to persuade the public that that's wrong to cut down young Christmas trees and it would be far better if we all had artificial plastic trees. This is simply not true. Christmas trees are grown in plantations that act as nature reserves to a wide variety of wild life and birds. The trees are grown close together, with spacing designed to prevent them growing larger than a domestic Christmas tree. 

Christmas trees are grown very much as a crop to be harvested, just like a field of wheat. They are carefully nurtured in special plantations and when cut, are replaced by others, so the numbers stay at a constant level.

Each tree converts about 30lbs of carbon dioxide into carbon and oxygen every year, and when multiplied by the approximate number growing in Europe alone (around 400million), this means that nearly 5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide are removed from the atmosphere. There are some 40 million Christmas trees growing in the U.K. and if each tree absorbs 30lbs. of Carbon Dioxide each year and converts this to Carbon and Oxygen, then real Christmas trees in the UK convert around 5000,000 tons of Carbon Dioxide into Carbon and Oxygen, each year.

Quite often, trees are grown on poor quality soil that would not support other crops and whilst growing, provide both refuge for wildlife and an attractive scenic greenbelt.
After the festive season, it may be possible to plant out the container grown trees, whilst the cut and those "potted for Christmas" can be shredded for mulch and used in gardens and amenity areas. Recycled Christmas Trees are also used to make sand and soil erosion barriers, and placed in ponds for fish shelter.

Plastic Christmas Trees are made from by-products of fossil fuel, using up the world's resources of fossil fuels. It wastes a great deal of energy producing them. Harmful gases are released as by-products in the production and manufacture. Plastic tress are not bio-degradable and if burned they produce a dangerous combination of noxious gasses.

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