Christmas Trees - The Important Details

As Christmas time comes ever closer to you and I, we must decide on one important thing, maybe the most important decision we’ll make in the coming weeks. As you might suspect, I’m referring to the yuletide tradition of Christmas trees. There’s some very important details you need to know about Christmas trees before you make your purchase though, and the details spawn from this one often asked simple question: “Should I get a real Christmas tree, or an artificial Christmas tree?”. I’m going to explain what you need to know about real Christmas trees and artificial ones, and help you make up your mind on which one is better for you and your family.

Of course you want the best Christmas tree possible. We all love having our Christmas trees next to the window for the entire neighborhood to awe and gawk at. Artificial Christmas trees often look just like real ones. Nine million of these bad boys were sold in 2004, up from 7.3 million in 2001. This alone might be a factor in choosing artificial over real. The more people that have artificial trees the more common it’s going to be having one. One of the pros for choosing an artificial tree is the fact that artificial Christmas trees are easier to assemble and store away for later use. Artificial trees cannot and never will rot like real Christmas (pine) trees do. If you’re allergic to the smell of pine, artificial Christmas trees won’t bother you one bit. The biggest factor of all in my opinion is the cost. Artificial trees can save you money and time, which can be spent on more gifts for your family and friends.

Real Christmas trees however aren’t all bad. Each one has that unique fresh forest scent that we all seemed to have loved at least sometime in our lives. There’s also a lot of unique selections to choose from. There are skinny Christmas trees, fat Christmas trees, pretty Christmas trees, ugly Christmas trees (I don't know why you would want one, but hey – it's your choice...and that's what it's all about!), tall trees, short trees…you name it and they have it. Real Christmas trees are also the traditional choice if that’s your kind of thing. The most important reason to choose a real Christmas tree though, is environmental. Christmas trees are known to take in harmful greenhouse gases such as Carbon Dioxide and release fresh oxygen into the air.

As we all know though, with everything, there are cons to both. Artificial trees can sometimes look phony and synthetic. Real Christmas trees need constant care and maintenance. Artificial trees are made from petroleum, a non-renewable resource. Real Christmas trees are difficult to transport and dispose of after use. Artificial trees can take a lot of time to assemble and dissemble.

These are just some of the important details that you need to know about real Christmas trees and artificial ones. There are various pros and cons for each and it’s up to you to decide which one best fits your home and lifestyle. Whichever one you choose though, it will shine like a beacon of light in your home and give that same feeling of warmth to you and neighbors as it does every year.