According to Statista.com, sast Christmas 50 million fake and real Christmas trees were bought, and 21.1 million were fake. This has grown from just 9 million fake trees in 2004, so I have to ask the question:

Which is better fake or real Christmas trees?

The real Christmas trees are the classic choice. Christmas trees have been a tradition since the 1600s when German Christians decorated their houses with evergreen trees. These trees resembled life even in the winter when everything seemed to be dead.

Artificial trees are only around 100 years old, and the first official artificial tree was made in Germany. It was essentially made from goose feathers dyed green. Nowadays artificial Christmas are made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) a plastic used in everyday objects such as credit cards, children’s toys and pipes, according to realchristmastrees.org.

To compare the two totally different trees first I ventured into the environmental impact of them. At first glance artificial trees seem like they would have the most impact on the environment, although after further research I discovered that’s only partially the truth. Even though artificial trees are made of plastic compared to real trees that are biodegradable, there are other things to take into account. Most artificial trees are shipped from Asia, that’s a lot of gas from truck to plane to truck again.

But the average lifespan for an artificial tree is 10 years and when you think of the process of shipping a real Christmas tree from a farm to a store and then driving it home every year, it adds up. Although, artificial trees are still not amazing for the environment either, most likely you won’t be able to recycle it and because it doesn’t biodegrade it will probably just sit in a landfill somewhere, forever.

The next thing I looked at was the price. An artificial tree that lasts for five years is about $200, and according to “USA Today” buying a real tree every year for five years would cost about $385.

Some have said that real trees die and that isn’t actually in spirit of Christmas.

I would like to contradict what some might say. I think real Christmas trees is the fun picking out one with my family. It’s a nice way to get out of the house and spend some quality time with your loved ones. I think this is an additional way to spread the Christmas cheer.

In conclusion, whatever Christmas tree you get your sure to have a very merry Christmas.