Christmas Trees, Fake or Real?

Christmas trees, fake or real? That is the question. Sure. Santa won't mind one way or the other. If Santa, as a heavy figure, has no problem climbing down the skinny chimney, he surely would not mind bending his big belly to hide his gifts under any trees, fake or real. The question is for us home owners: which one do you prefer to have in your house this Christmas?

This year is our third year of using a fake tree. Before that, we have always used the real trees and believed in the myth of a real tree. But we find out in the fake vs real battle, this is the golden rule: once fake, always fake. If you used a fake Christmas tree one year, you will not go back using a real tree next year.

Reasons for a fake tree:

1. You have already inherited a fake tree you bought from last year. Why buy a real one?!

2. It has longevity. You can display your tree way longer. I started putting on the tree even before the Thanksgiving. You can even display it all year around if you are not afraid of being accused of being a redneck. Real trees stay green and fresh only about 3 weeks max.

3. It’s less a fire hazard in the house. You can leave it lit unattended without worrying about causing a fire. Plastic won't catch fire as easy as wood. A real tree gets dry after being in the house for a couple of weeks and becomes a fire hazard.

4. There is no watering. No need to check the water and add water every so often.

5. There is no needle shedding. Real trees shed needles. You have to clean the base area every so often.

6. There is no disposal. After the season is over, you don't need to think about how to dispose of it.

7. There are no spiders. Spiders hatch in the real trees and they come alive as soon as you move them from the cold outdoors into the warm indoors.

8. It’s more economical. You only need to buy a fake tree once and most of the fake trees come prelit. The best time to get a fake tree is right after the Christmas. We got ours at a 75% discount price. That alone should score a lot more points in this economy.

9. It’s less time consuming and less hassle. You save the time going around looking for a tree and bringing it all the way home. In addition, you save a lot of hassle hanging the lights on it.

Now let's give some credits to the real trees.

1. They look real. Obviously they are. (But come to think of it. They are real dead trees. The minute a tree was cut from its root, the life was taken away).

2. They give wonderful smell. (But for another $5-$15, you can get a tree smell warmer that emits any tree smell in the house).

3. You have a different tree every year. (But with the money spent on the tree itself each year, you could buy tons of ornaments, enough to cover the whole tree that you don’t even notice it’s a different tree).

4. They require no storage. You dispose them after Christmas so no storage is needed. (But isn’t that what your garage is for?)

5. Blank. I'm thinking. If you can find more, let me know.

Proudly present my fake Christmas tree 2009 I still hear those opposing arguments from the real tree believers. I live in a town which was once called “Christmas town of USA”, so often times when I tell people here that I have an artificial tree, they tell me what a shame. Other times, I got the look that made me feel as if owning plastic in a tree gave me the suspicion of having plastic silicone in some parts of my body. I also heard the arguments about which one is environmentally green. I think in that aspect, it's a wash. The plastics making process is maybe not green but tree cutting and water consumption are not green either. Believe me, I was once an all-things-real believer at one time. Especially, being a Chinese, besides the legitimate reasons of believing real things are better, I have my own superstitious reason in disliking plastics too. Plastic is not one of the five basic elements in Zen. Don’t use it because it’s a bad luck! Even many years ago when I had to be frugal in grocery shopping, I had no second thought in bringing home real cut flowers every week, and replacing real indoor plants diligently. I not only had to buy them fresh but also had to make sure they were out of the door when they were half way dead. When I left for travels, I had to either hire someone to water the plants, or risk the chance of having them all killed from drought. I denounced plastics because they were not beautiful, not fragile, not lively, and in one world, not real. Until I purchased my first fake orchid plant from Pier 1 Import a few years ago, the same year I got my first fake Christmas tree, I fell in love with the freedom and savings in plastics, and needless to say the plastic beauty too. From there on, I give plastics a second life. When you are young, beauty is all that matters. When you are at my age, practicality matters more. That's the main reason why I favor fake Christmas tree.

Fake or real, what's yours and why?