Editing Christmas tree (section)

==Environmental issues==
[[File:Christmas Tree fire damage to building in Skokie, Illinois-Detail.jpg|thumb|Fire damage to apartment building from Christmas tree fire]]The debate about the environmental impact of artificial trees is ongoing. Generally, natural tree growers contend that artificial trees are more environmentally harmful than their natural counterparts.<ref name="hayes"/> However, trade groups such as the [[American Christmas Tree Association]], claim that the PVC used in Christmas trees is chemically and mechanically stable, does not affect human health, and has excellent recyclable properties.<ref name="acta">{{cite web |url=http://www.christmastreeassociation.org/Article%20Pages/facts-on-pvc-used-in-artificial-christmas-trees |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081229105616/http://www.christmastreeassociation.org/Article%20Pages/facts-on-pvc-used-in-artificial-christmas-trees |archive-date=29 December 2008 |title=Facts on PVC Used in Artificial Christmas Trees |publisher=[[American Christmas Tree Association]] |access-date=21 December 2008 }}</ref>
Live trees are typically grown as a [[crop]] and replanted in rotation after cutting, often providing suitable [[habitat]] for wildlife.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/real_christmas_trees_history_facts_and_environmental_impacts|title=Real Christmas trees: History, facts and environmental impacts|last=Sandborn|first=Dixie|date=2 December 2016|website=canr.msu.edu/|access-date=1 October 2021}}</ref> Alternately, live trees can be donated to livestock farmers who find that such trees uncontaminated by chemical additives are excellent fodder.<ref>{{cite news|title=Goats, elk happy to munch on your used Christmas trees|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/goats-elk-happy-to-munch-on-your-used-christmas-trees-1.2885774|access-date=1 January 2015|publisher=CBC News|date=29 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141231183148/http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/goats-elk-happy-to-munch-on-your-used-christmas-trees-1.2885774|archive-date=31 December 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> In some cases, management of Christmas tree crops can result in poor habitat since it sometimes involves heavy input of [[pesticide]]s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ipm.ncsu.edu/wildlife/christmas_trees_wildlife.html|title=Pesticides & Wildlife Christmas Trees|website=ipm.ncsu.edu|access-date=2 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170110211051/http://ipm.ncsu.edu/wildlife/christmas_trees_wildlife.html|archive-date=10 January 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

Concerns have been raised by arborists about people cutting down old and rare conifers, such as the ''[[Keteleeria evelyniana]]'' for Christmas trees.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Wilson |first1=Kimberly A. C. |title=An arboretum is not a tree farm, people |url=https://www.oregonlive.com/nwheadlines/2009/12/an_arboretum_is_not_a_tree_far.html |website=Oregon Live |date=10 December 2009 |publisher=The Oregonian |access-date=19 December 2023}}</ref>

Real or cut trees are used only for a short time, but can be recycled and used as [[mulch]], wildlife habitat, or used to prevent [[erosion]].<ref>{{cite web |title = Engineer Update: Old Christmas trees protect town beach|url = http://www.hq.usace.army.mil/CEPA/PUBS/mar07/story8.htm|publisher = [[United States Army Corps of Engineers]]|date = March 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070824001534/http://www.hq.usace.army.mil/cepa/pubs/mar07/story8.htm|archive-date=24 August 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url = http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/metro/2014-12-25/christmas-tree-recycling-begins-friday-columbia-county |title = Christmas tree recycling begins Friday in Columbia County |newspaper = [[The Augusta Chronicle]] |access-date = 26 December 2014 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141226180008/http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/metro/2014-12-25/christmas-tree-recycling-begins-friday-columbia-county |archive-date = 26 December 2014 |url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.startribune.com/sports/outdoors/286838101.html |title = Recycling your tree can be a gift for environment |access-date = 26 December 2014 |work = Star Tribune |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141226163650/http://www.startribune.com/sports/outdoors/286838101.html |archive-date = 26 December 2014 |url-status = live }}</ref> Real trees are carbon-neutral, they emit no more carbon dioxide by being cut down and disposed of than they absorb while growing.<ref name="sciam">{{cite web |first=David |last=Biello |url=http://www.sciam.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=im-dreaming-of-a-green-christmas-tr-08-12-05 |title=I'm Dreaming of a Green Christmas (Tree) |work=[[Scientific American]] |format=[[podcast]] transcript |date=4 December 2008 |access-date=22 December 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081206023745/http://www.sciam.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=im-dreaming-of-a-green-christmas-tr-08-12-05 |archive-date=6 December 2008 |url-status=live }}</ref> However, emissions can occur from farming activities and transportation. An independent [[life-cycle assessment]] study, conducted by a firm of experts in sustainable development, states that a natural tree will generate {{cvt|3.1|kg}} of [[greenhouse gas]]es every year (based on purchasing {{cvt|5|km}} from home) whereas the artificial tree will produce {{cvt|48.3|kg}} over its lifetime.<ref name="LifeCycleAssessment"/> Some people use living Christmas or potted trees for several seasons, providing a longer life cycle for each tree. Living Christmas trees can be purchased or rented from local market growers. Rentals are picked up after the holidays, while purchased trees can be planted by the owner after use or donated to local tree adoption or urban reforestation services.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.christmastree.org/dnn/AllAboutTrees/HowtoRecycle.aspx |title=Recycling Your Tree: Real Christmas Trees are Recyclable |publisher=[[National Christmas Tree Association]] |access-date=18 December 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130406092030/http://www.christmastree.org/dnn/AllAboutTrees/HowtoRecycle.aspx |archive-date=6 April 2013 }}</ref> Smaller and younger trees may be replanted after each season, with the following year running up to the next Christmas allowing the tree to carry out further growth.

The use of lead stabilizer in Chinese imported trees has been an issue of concern among politicians and scientists over recent years. A 2004 study found that while in general artificial trees pose little health risk from [[lead poisoning|lead contamination]], there do exist "worst-case scenarios" where major health risks to young children exist.<ref name="maas">{{Cite journal
| last1 = Maas | first1 = R. P.
| last2 = Patch | first2 = S. C.
| last3 = Pandolfo | first3 = T. J.
| title = Artificial Christmas trees: How real are the lead exposure risks?
| journal = Journal of Environmental Health
| volume = 67
| issue = 5
| pages = 20–24, 32
| year = 2004
| pmid = 15628192}} Accessed 18 December 2012.</ref> A 2008 [[United States Environmental Protection Agency]] report found that as the PVC in artificial Christmas trees aged it began to degrade.<ref name="eparept">{{Cite journal | last1 = Levin | first1 = R. | last2 = Brown | first2 = M. J. | last3 = Kashtock | first3 = M. E. | last4 = Jacobs | first4 = D. E. | last5 = Whelan | first5 = E. A. | last6 = Rodman | first6 = J. | last7 = Schock | first7 = M. R. | last8 = Padilla | first8 = A. | last9 = Sinks | first9 = T. | display-authors = 3| doi = 10.1289/ehp.11241 | title = Lead Exposures in U.S. Children, 2008: Implications for Prevention | journal = Environmental Health Perspectives | volume = 116 | issue = 10 | pages = 1285–1293 | year = 2008 | pmid = 18941567| pmc =2569084 | bibcode = 2008EnvHP.116.1285L }}. Retrieved 18 December 2012.</ref> The report determined that of the fifty million artificial trees in the United States approximately twenty million were nine or more years old, the point where dangerous lead contamination levels are reached.<ref name="eparept"/> A professional study on the life-cycle assessment of both real and artificial Christmas trees revealed that one must use an artificial Christmas tree at least twenty years to leave an environmental footprint as small as the natural Christmas tree.<ref name="LifeCycleAssessment">{{cite web|title=Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Christmas trees—A study ends the debate over which Christmas tree, natural or artificial, is most ecological |url=http://www.ellipsos.ca/modules/news/article.php?storyid=9&lang=english |publisher=Ellipsos Inc. |date=16 December 2008 |access-date=18 December 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121201035904/http://www.ellipsos.ca/modules/news/article.php?storyid=9&lang=english |archive-date=1 December 2012 }}</ref>

<gallery widths="200px" heights="155px">
File:Discarded Christmas Trees in London, UK.jpg|Discarded trees by garbage dumpsters
File:Recycletree.jpg|Christmas tree [[recycling]] point ({{lang|fr|point recyclage de sapins}})
File:Woodchipping Christmas trees in Stuyvesant Town, New York.jpg|Woodchipping Christmas trees
</gallery>