For years I had sworn off fake trees. After getting our new home, and seeing what a tall tree was going to cost, then seeing the sale on what have become very realistic fake trees, pre-lit, I did the cost analysis. After 2 years of the fake tree I had broken even on cost. In addition I no longer have to fight the huge mess in the house, sticky sap, and my wife isn't sniffly.

Also to your positives for fake trees I would def. point out the lack of effect on allergies.

Down here in SETX and Louisiana real Christmas trees are left on the curb for pickup after the holidays. The trees are collected and help rebuild the reefs in the gulf. This year, I opted to "rescue" a fake ficus from my boyfriend's garage and decorated it instead of giving in to consumerism.

The town I grew up in and the town I currently live in both have tree recycling programs. Here, I have to drop it off somewhere but it will get mulched and where I grew up it was a local school fundraiser, for a small donation your tree will get picked up from your curb.

Also, around here they are a local product!

The big turn-offs for me on a real tree is the mess of pine needles, the taking care of them, the fact you use it for less than a month and then it is trashed (not every city recycles them for you and unless you own a mulcher you won't be) so it's a huge waste, etc. There's no convincing me to use a real tree and toss it in a month.

I do realize it takes materials to build a artificial tree and there is all the transporting - but out of the people I know most have been using the exact same artificial tree for years. There's no real reason to replace it unless it gets damaged.

Plus I buy a fake tree once (which you can normally get one for what you'd pay for one or two years of a real tree) and I can use the cash saved every other year to spend on presents for people whom I love.

"...sometimes look better than the real thing" -- there's something totally frightening about that statement. Guess that's 'cause I'm in the real tree camp.

It's true though. Sometimes the "real tree" you can afford won't look as good as the fake... cause I can only afford the Charlie Brown tree in the corner of the lot. Haha!

we've had our fake tree for over 25 years in our family. it's the really old one that has wire tree limbs that stick into a broom handle base. it's very classy. but also very "christmas" to us.

why can't we just leave christmas trees where they belong- in the ground?

I totally agree with all of your pros and cons, except for one. Here in France, Ikea gives you 17E in coupons if you bring your tree back to the store, and they have the shredding machine. If you don't have an Ikea near you, you bring your tree to a green dumpster, and they take care of it for you.

My bottom line is: do I really want to celebrate Christmas with a fake tree ? I love this season, I love nature, and I just can't imagine having something representing nature when I can have the real one... Isn't there enough fake-ness in Christmas already ? (Just got my first batch of Christmas consumerist junkmail a few minutes ago and am traumatized, please excuse).
I buy flower bouquets once a week; I consider my tree like a huge bouquet that will last me a month.

The biggest pro is that beautiful real tree smell that fills the house at christmas time sets the mood for the season.

The biggest con for fake trees are fake is fake. Although in all fairness I will say every two years we put up our 2/3 of a fake tree.

Our city mulch's trees for us.

Fake trees have no soul.

When I was a kid my mother bought potted trees and planted them in our yard.

We watched them grow instead of croaking.

What about a real tree that isn't disposed after the holidays!? Why not have a real tree that you put outside after the holidays and bring back in next year? Best of both worlds:)

I've never, ever had a fake tree having grown up in Western Pennsylvania where evergreens abound. And I have to say the biggest pro, in my opinion, for a real tree is the smell. That real tree smell - part balsam, part citrus - is incredible. It's Christmas. Something you can't recreate with a candle or a spray.

Growing up it was always a real tree & the trimmed branches & stump went into the fireplace & oh, how I loved the smell. Much older & on my own, after several years of trees being toppled by cats (water & smashed glass ornaments everywhere - several times) and the addition of a baby, I switched to an artificial tree. I thought it would be a temporary solution for a few years, until both baby & cats were older. 13 years later & I'm still using the same tree. It paid for itself in 2 years, but I still miss the smell of a live tree.

As wonderful as real trees smell and look I can't deal with the swollen eyes and itchy face nor can I swallow the $60+ cost of a real tree to just throw away after a month.

I think both types can be completely lovely and succeed in bringing holiday cheer to the home.

Personally, I've gotta agree that the SCENT of a real tree is the clincher. To me, there is nothing quite so wonderful as waking up and coming downstairs to the welcoming, Christmas-ee smell of the pine. Add the scent of coffee and from-scratch pancakes and I'm in heaven! Of course, if a fake tree is preferred, there are some excellent pine-scented candles available these days...

For those of you who say that "Fake trees have no soul" (seriously?) and that real trees mean Christmas to you, I have one thing to tell you: three years of taking myself (as an infant/toddler) to the hospital more than once around the holidays because I am *violently* allergic to the mold that grows in cut trees convinced my family otherwise.

Like the author says, there are pros and cons to each; I think the best solution is actually a potted pine tree that you keep outdoors in the warmer months and move indoors for holiday time.

For those of you who say that "Fake trees have no soul" (seriously?) and that real trees mean Christmas to you, I have one thing to tell you: three years of taking myself (as an infant/toddler) to the hospital more than once around the holidays because I am *violently* allergic to the mold that grows in cut trees convinced my family otherwise.

Like the author says, there are pros and cons to each; I think the best solution is actually a potted pine tree that you keep outdoors in the warmer months and move indoors for holiday time.

I can't believe this is even up for debate. Google "Christmas tree fire" or check http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/citizens/home_fire_prev/holiday-seasonal/treefire.shtm

LOVE the real tree, and my city picks up and recycles them. For me a bit hassle is getting them straight in the stand. We bought a new stand from a small company in PA and its awesome.

I really like the awkward charlie brown real trees.

Although I've always loved real trees, I now love extremely fake, classic artificial trees - the more fake and kitsch, the better, like pink (Miss Pixie's--no relation--in DC has a lovely pink one). That said, I don't have a tree myself.

I grew up working in a Christmas store and fake trees are a lot sturdier and easier to decorate if you're really specific about where you want ornaments. Fake trees are also a lot less likely that they falls over, since you're not messing with the tree stand.

We needed a full-sized tree for our townhouse, but I'm not in the place to fork over $200 for a tree. I ended up getting a really nice 7.5' pre-lit tree on Craigslist for $60. Even though the previous owner's purchase wasn't very green, I was happy to keep ours out of a landfill, and I would encourage other people that are concerned about the environmental aspect of a fake tree to consider buying a used one.

One thing that I really like about having a fake tree is that it's already up and decorated and I don't have to worry about it for the rest of the season. To compensate for the fakeness of the tree, I'm using some real garland around the house, and I always get a real wreath from a Christmas Tree farm where my dad grew up. Just because you have a fake tree doesn't mean you can't embrace other natural elements of Christmas and have that pine smell in your home!

Another pro for fake trees are reduced threat of fire. My fake tree looks fabulous, is pre-lit with LED bulbs and I don't have to worry about catching the house on fire since I have NO IDEA how to care for a real tree (always artificial in my house growing up).

Fake trees don't smell like Christmas.

Sorry, real trees will always be preferred in my house. I need the smell!

Buy a vintage fake tree.

Problem solved.

It's perfectly all right to be in either camp -- there are, after all, PROS to each version. It's pointless to condemn the other camp for YOUR preferences, though. (Your side has CONS, too.) If you love the scent or the tradition, by all means have a "live" tree. If you have allergies or prefer the simplicity, by all means, have a fake. It's interesting to hear the reasons people choose one or the other, but it's not in the holiday spirit to point fingers over their choices.

Real trees are the only Christmas trees to me. It's about the smell, and the joy of picking out the tree from the lot and all that. And I would hate a prelit tree because to me the point is to have fun decorating a tree! That said, I have often foregone Christmas trees. I'm not getting one this year. I don't have a ton of room and I'll be out of town for Christmas so it seemed like a waste. But in general, I'd rather skip a tree than have a fake.

We considered getting a live potted tree that we could plant in the garden or keep alive until next year. Only two problem, we're apartment-dwellers, and I have pretty bad allergies. If I had a house and yard though, I'd definitely consider a live tree - they cost about the same as cut trees, and after you've enjoyed it for Dec, you can help the environment by planting a tree in the ground!

Storing a fake tree for 11 months is a real turn off for me. I cut the branches off my real NC Fraser fir and use them in the yard as weed control.

Nicely said @SherryBinNH!

As for me, I've been looking for a tiny potted Christmas tree for this year but haven't had any luck. We have a tiny apartment and have just used a two-foot-tall fake tree in the past, there isn't room for much else :)

I really appreciate this pros and con list, especially with the carbon footprint of the fake tree. This is my first year living with my BF, and I have been trying to figure out compromises. To me, a fake tree is not appealing, but my BF does not like the idea of cutting down a tree just to have it in your house for a month, which I totally understand. He also has a cat that likes to attack ornaments near the floor, and I love antique mirrored glass ornaments. My plan is to decorate with garland. That way, the ornaments I put in it will be high up, I will get the smell, and we will be using waste branches rather than killing an entire tree.

Living in the city, there was no way I was bringing a tree up a 4 story walkup and back down in a month, so I got a fake tree that came in a box with a handle. I just moved into a house and I can get a tree, but for this year I'm going to save the money and continue using my fake tree (because buying that house was expensive!)

I live in Los Angeles and last year I was told about livingchristmas.com. The trees are pricey in comparison to cut trees, but they keep the trees potted and allow you to return the trees for replanting after Christmas is over. If one has the means, it seems like a nice way to sustainably have a real Christmas tree.

What about something like this as an alternative?

http://dottieangel.blogspot.com/2009/12/controversial-maybe-handcrafted.html

It might not be everyone's cup of tea, but it looks fun and funky, I'd do it!

In my county the fire code regulates that if you live in a multi-unit dwelling that is not equipped with sprinklers you are not allowed to have a real Christmas tree, alas fake is my only option.

As a side note, one year growing up my parents real tree was extremely fresh and continued to grow and release what I now assume to be pollen throughout the month of December. My mom was so miserable with allergies that we undecorated and disposed of it on December 26th.

Let's cut this "fake trees have no soul" crap. You like what you like and everyone has different reasons. I've never had a real tree and I refuse to get a real tree because I refuse to spend $50 on a tree for one month every single year. Plus, I have allergies, and I don't like insects that hitch a ride on the tree into my home. I don't like the smell of sap and pine needles in my home.

Regarding the "fake trees have no soul". They don't. There is a difference in having an emotional attachment to something that is living, although really it is dying since it was cut, smelling, breathing tree as opposed to aluminum/plastic fake trees.

I grew up with fake trees, because I lived only with my mom and carrying a tree home from the sidewalk salesman 15 minutes walk away was way too much for us.

Our compromise was to buy a lovely pine wreath. That way we got the smell of pine without any of the fuss.

"(although one researcher pointed out that it takes twenty years for an artificial tree's carbon footprint to match the footprint of a real tree)"

I may be misunderstanding the researchers point, but doesn't that mean if one false tree matches the carbon footprint of one real tree in 20 years, wouldn't that mean that because you aren't using a new real tree each year, you're 19 years/trees ahead of the game by that time?

Our Condo Building/Strata does not allow Real tree's so we have no choice but to have a fake tree. Real tree's are deemed a fire hazard. Though i will say the one we have has been in the family for about 30 years so its special in the fact its been around so long!

The environmental costs of fake trees is too damn high. They're made from petroleum, they outgas, they won't biodegrade, the majority of them are made by people who aren't paid properly and not in the best of working conditions, then they're packed up and shipped long distances. Real trees don't pollute, they provide shelter for little critters while they're growing, they suck up carbon dioxide and they will eventually return to the soil from whence they came.

If someone has allergies then fake trees are a boon/blessing/godsend/etc. But if allergies/illness are not a factor then I don't see how fake trees can be justified, at least from an environmental standpoint. /dismounting from high horse

We always had a real tree growing up, I like the smell. I had a teeeeensy fake tree last year, and this year I don't have any because I have a puppy who'd love to eat it. My family is in Illinois, I live in Florida, and airfare is ridiculous and I can't afford it this year. Christmas to me means family, not a tree :(

Funstraw, I just don't understand how a statement such as that makes sense. Meaning is in the beholder, is it not? Our first fake tree was passed down from my parents to us. It's been carefully and lovingly decorated for decades. It's the first Christmas tree I ever had. It may not be living, but it has significance and when people offer pretentious nuggets like "____ has no soul," what they really mean is "authenticity is limited to what I believe is acceptable" - I just see that people can see significance, meaning, and connection in many things, and a tree does not have to be real in order to mean something important.

My husband and decided to forgo the Christmas tree altogether. Sometimes, we just put up decorations around the house. Lately I have been taken with the idea of setting up a humble creche or nativity scene on the inside of the house. I think I'm gravitating towards this to counteract all the consumerism that Christmas has become.

Yes, the carbon footprint info is a bit confusing.

We always had real trees when I was growing up and now that I have kids of my own, we go to the Christmas tree farm (about 45 minutes drive from our home) and cut our own tree. The trees are mostly Monterey Pine which are not my favorite tree in the world, but the kids love searching for the perfect tree, loading it onto the cart and wheeling it back to the front where teenagers shake and net the tree and help us get it onto our car. There's a cute little shed filled with ornaments and wreaths and baked goods and cider and hot cocoa for sale and it's just become part of what Christmas is all about for us. Yes we get covered in sap. Yes the pine needles get EVERYWHERE!

But it's so much fun and it's less about how beautiful the tree looks and more about the experience we have as a family.

Composting is part of our city's waste management. And they come and collect the trees. All I need to do is drag out to the curb, sadly most of it's many, many needles don't make it.

the carbon footprint info means that the artificial tree footprint is so HIGH that it would take 20 years of using it to equal the carbon footprint of 20 years of real trees

yes?

During a particularly ummmm "lean" year once, my Mom and I took the camera tripod, set it up in the living room and wrapped garland around it. A few ornaments and a bow at the top, and we had a "tripod tree!"

That year aside, I'm always a big fan of real trees, allergies be damned!

Another thing to consider is if you have pets... pine needles are toxic if ingested by cats and dogs, and they have sharp edges that can really cause some damage if chewed and/or swallowed. And in the past I've had cats that use the real thing as a scratching post, and a dog who used it as his potty. So if you have pets, even if a real tree is breathtaking, it might be worth getting a fake one.

Vintage fake tree + Thymes Frasier Fir candle.

This is a blog where people poo-poo the idea of a courtesy flush because of the HORROR of wasted water!! And yet we entertain this question....

Some vintage trees are amazing. That said, i couldn't do an artificial tree any more. I like the idea of supporting the local economy much better, although we usually go with a small tabletop tree. This year we're using lichen-covered birch deadfall branches in an urn with fairy lights and recycled glass icicles-looks like winter in the forest and will last years with care.

@Pi

Thanks for your 2pm (ET) post, that made me eyeroll so hard. C'mon, this is apartment therapy, ppl form emotional attachments to non-organic material objects all the time.

@eurieka
Thanks for the heads up on the tree rental; though I won't make use of it myself I hope the concept becomes more popular.

I meant to add: my grandmother for many years used a bare thornapple tree (the same one every year) and covered it with glass and silver ornaments. People were always stunned, and it was thrifty and ecologically sound to boot.

Have you heard of the Living Christmas Company based out of Los Angeles? They RENT living Christmas trees! -- you don't need to choose between plastic or killing a tree! The company is green and socially responsible in all aspects of their business-- biodiesel trucks, donating to nonprofits, reforesting mature trees, etc. Check em out at www.livingchristmas.com. If you use the promo code 'rent' you get a discount.

Different people like different things.

We wanted to use the Living Christmas Company, but they only rent and deliver trees in a small area of Los Angeles. My house is way outside their range. So no living xmas tree for us.

However, we bought a used fake Christmas tree from Craigslist, saving it from the landfill.

Yes, there's something really authentic about cutting down a tree and sticking it in your living room, isn't there? I just don't understand how anyone could handle something as 'fake' as a tree that hasn't consumed countless gallons of water and been sprayed with toxic insecticides and chemicals just to be cut down and ditched a month later.

Ahh, always a fun debate. Coming from a part of the world where conifers etc aren't locally available at any time of year, I have to point out that the carbon footprint of buying a real tree in many parts of the world is therefore significantly higher than that of a faux tree, especially when said faux tree is used over the course of a decade or two. My parents' tree is 30 years and going strong...and no, it may not smell like pine needles, but it still has a soul because it's the very same piece of plastic that three generations of family have gathered around and grown up with.

Christmas doesn't smell like pine needles everywhere either - my Christmas usually smells like sunscreen and fresh berries and the beach, and I wouldn't trade that for the world.

I say no to xmas trees entirely. Cut some boughs for that lovely scent.

Tree farmers are usually small outfits. I like to support small businesses, not plastic made by Chinese factory slaves. But, clearly, many people are perfectly comfortable doing just that.

You know, Palmetto, somewhere out there is someone with an artificial tree who, at the end of the day, has purchased far fewer products from Chinese factory slaves than you, has a smaller carbon footprint than you, and has possibly thrown more money at local businesses than you could dream of.
All that, and they have a little plastic tree.

My fake tree is fly yo

Yes, Gordon, and this eco-warrior has bad taste and a little plastic tree. Sucks to be him/her.

My fake tree is awesome too. Black and sparkles! Going on three or four years now. I'd love a vintage full size silver, or maybe pink, one sometimes in the furture when I have a bigger apt.
Tree lots will usually always give away the cut branches they removed from purchased trees, just ask! Then you can make a wreath, garlands, or some sort of swag, and get the nice scent in your home too.
Ikea does sell real cut trees, then takes them back to mulch, and they give you a return voucher to spend. Did that one year with an ex-boyfriend for his apt.
I grew up with real trees and used to think I'd never go to fake. But now not sure I'll ever go back.

Not sure if anyone is still reading this but I found this article earlier and it's a huge pro for an artificial tree. A woman has had the same Christmas tree for 82 years! This is extremely environment friendly

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/12/woman-has-used-the-same-christmas-tree-every-year-since-1928.php

My tree is fake too and its gorgeous! I got mine from www.reflectionsgbg.com they came to my house to put it up and even decorated it for me! Beautiful, clean and easy.