Both real and artificial Christmas trees have an environmental impact, however artificial trees are much more damaging in terms of carbon footprint.
Research shows that a two metre tall artificial tree has a carbon footprint of 40kg, compared to a real tree’s footprint of 3.5kg if it is composted or disposed of on a bonfire. This means that you’d have to use your artificial tree for more than 11 years to make its carbon footprint worth it, compared to a properly recycled of real tree. However, the carbon footprint of a real tree increases to 16kg if it ends up in a landfill.
Anne Gow, farmer and owner of Farmer Gow’s, spoke about the benefits of real trees over artificial Christmas trees, stating that they “offer us lots of different benefits, not just environmentally in that they take up ground and help with water table retention and that they give new environments for wildlife. They are also an important part of business because they provide a lot of employment, they’re grown for averagely 10 years, so the impacts to the human being in terms of livelihood, and also biodiversity for the land, are a double positive outcome.”
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