The Real Tree
Real Trees are grown on family
farms in the United Stares and Canada,
contributing to local economies. Choose
and cut farms further contribute locally
by customer patronage of restaurants,
hotels and motels, shopping and
services.
Real Trees are an agricultural
crop, grown, harvested, and replanted
like any other crop. The myth of killing
immature trees for the Christmas season
is just that, an uninformed myth.
Real Trees are planted in fields
where natural ground covers are used for
soil retention, resulting in habitat for
small animals and birds. Flowering flora
also attracts predator insects,
resulting in biological control of
damaging insects. Christmas tree farms
support complex eco-systems.
Real Trees are a contributor to
the health of the environment. In the
United States alone about a half million
acres of Christmas trees absorb global
warming carbon dioxide and release
enough oxygen to support about 9 million
people daily.
Real Trees are a natural product.
Even when sprayed for pests chemical
residue on cut trees is negligible due
to the natural cleansing of weather.
Real Trees are recyclable. After
contributing to the joy of Christmas,
trees are collected by most towns and
cities and rendered into bio-degradable
mulch. A great many are used at beaches
and rivers to control wind and water
erosion. Placed in ponds trees provide
safe havens for minnows.
Real Trees are the safest
Christmas tree. A fresh, well watered
Fraser Fir will not burn. Real trees
never start fires. Overloaded circuits,
faulty wiring, and unmanaged heat
sources start fires. For more
information refer to the following
links:
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The Plastic Fake Tree
Plastic Fake Trees are
manufactured primarily in China. One
producer, Shenzhen Cosmotree Industrial
Ltd, for about $11.00 manufactures the
popular “Canadian Pine” and exports it
to the United States, where it is sold
for around $120.00, contributing to the
US trade deficit with China. *
Plastic Fake Trees are produced
in China in near slave like conditions
by migrant workers earning about .28
cents an hour. *
Plastic Fake Trees are
manufactured from petroleum and waste
petroleum products. The resulting
plastic is typically PVC, a highly toxic
material containing lead, chlorine, and
dioxins among other chemicals.
Plastic Fake Trees sold in
California are required to have a lead
poisoning warning label to comply with
Proposition 65 (www.aphis.usda.gov).
Plastic Fake Trees in many cases
are shipped with gloves that are to be
worn when handling the product. **
Plastic Fake Trees contribute to
global warming.
Plastic Fake Trees are not
recyclable. When no longer usable they
contribute to the landfill problem.
Plastic Fake Trees are dangerous
to the environment. In 2004 the US
Department of Agriculture initiated a
recall and quarantine of a large number
of Plastic Fake Trees from China.
The untreated wooden center poles of the
Plastic Fake Trees were infested
with the Brown Fir Long Horned Beetle, a
wood borer not native the United States
and potentially devastating to local
trees.
Plastic Fake Trees, contrary to
deceptive advertising are flammable. For
more information refer to:
*Peter S. Goodman, Washington Post
Foreign Service 9.23.2003
**Balsam Hills Christmas Tree Co. |
