Every year, Wesleyan Families are tasked with decorating their house for the Christmas season. The big question is: what type of tree will be displayed in the living room? Juniors Harrison Larner and Sophie Zetzsche debate real trees vs. fake trees.
He said:
Would you ever take an ax to the legs of a wild deer? What about a squirrel? Killing a live Christmas Tree is no different.
Using a live Christmas tree is simply absurd. Beyond the obvious fact that you are killing a live organism solely for decoration, real trees are just impractical. You have to drag yourself over to nearest plant nursery, pick out a tree, chop it down and then sling it on your car roof to transport it home. As you carry in the oversized fluff of green mass inside, you wonder how many hours it will take to pick up all the needles scattered across your living room. After finally finding a spot inside that will contain a tree as wide as a king-size bed and two feet taller than Shaq, the realization that a living plant is inside your living room hits at the same time a large drop of sap oozes on your brand new pair of Sperry’s. Little Bobby’s pine needle allergy begins to crop up again, a swarm of flies filter out through the trunk and all of a sudden the epidemic of a live Christmas tree is inside the house, spreads disaster.
After a quick trip to CVS for Zyrtec and a watering can, the clock strikes 6 p.m. A promising Saturday is ruined before the joy of decorating has even begun. As more days pass, the problem grows. Two weeks later, the tree has not been watered for a few days and a brown tint begins to spread to the outside of the tree. By the time Christmas morning arrives, the presents are covered in pine needles and the family wonders why they got a live tree in the first place. And that doesn’t even include the whole debacle of disposing of the green demon. Where do you even start? Give it to the Boy Scouts, a dirty, corrupt organization hell-bent on destroying the American way of life? Absolutely not. Throwing it in the dumpster? Yeah, and ruin some poor garbageman’s day? I think not.
On the other hand, a better-than-real tree from Amazon is just a few clicks away. Perfectly trimmed, pre-decorated and delivered straight to your door, it is a much more practical option. Artificial trees never make a mess. That means no more taking out the vacuum cleaner every year. Secondly, the customizability options are endless. Do you want a pink tree? You got it. A red tree? Done. A tree pre-decorated with gold streamers? Do you want a tree that smells like Apple Cinnamon or Mahogany? Done, done and done. A few air fresheners and anything is possible.
But perhaps the greatest draw to fake trees is their longevity. Instead of traveling to pick up a tree, you can just pull it straight up from storage into the living room. The tree goes from nuisance to tradition. It will appear in family pictures for years, and it will become an integral part of all Christmas. Also, instead of nurturing a pampered plant, your family can spend time together bonding with Christmas traditions instead of makeshift gardening.
There’s really no question; artificial trees are the best. For the convenience, price and customizability, there really is no comparison.
She said:
The Christmas season is a time for family, celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and decorating. One specific activity that encompasses both family time and decorating is the entire Christmas tree process; however, if the Christmas tree you get is not a live tree, there is no Christmas experience at all.
The Christmas season officially starts when you and your family all pile into the car and drive to a Christmas tree farm. After running around the tree farm for a while, you finally find the perfect tree and either chop it down yourself or tell the man working at the farm you have found the one. Picking out the tree is a great opportunity to spend time with family and really bond over your love for your new tree. After picking it out, it gets strapped to the top of the car and driven back to the house. Now, it is time to decorate. The decorating process is yet another great time to bond with family. Stringing lights around a tree with family is not an experience artificial tree families get. And boy, are they missing out.
Your support of Christmas tree farms helps to provide jobs for hundreds of people looking to make some extra money during the holiday season. According to Christmas Tree Farmers Association of New York, “all the money from the production of this crop stays in local economies, and supports working families in the community they are in.” Christmas tree farms do a great job of benefitting the local economy and bringing Christmas cheer to the community.
Another reason to purchase real Christmas trees is the scent for the month or so that the live Christmas tree is up. You can put away all the Febreze and candles because the fresh smell of balsam fills your house thanks to the beautiful Christmas tree that you have sitting in your living room. Artificial Christmas trees just smell like plastic or whatever other weird smell comes from your basement during the other eleven months it just sits there. The Christmas candle smells do not even compare to the smell of real Christmas trees, so if you are a fake tree person, you don’t even get the real smells of Christmas. What fun is that?
Eventually, the Christmas season comes to an end and the world enters a time of mourning as the lights are taken down, extra cookies are thrown away and all the presents are given. When the Christmas tree comes down, artificial tree owners just shove it in a box and throw it in their basement, making the end to the Christmas season blurry and unofficial. When the real trees are taken down and either recycled into woodchips to put in lawns or cut up into everlasting firewood, you get an official end of the Christmas season, giving every Christmas lover closure to move into the New Year.
Everyone knows that December is really the first month of the harsh winter. It is important to stay warm during these months and the best and most affordable way to stay warm is by manually heating your house with a big fire. Like I mentioned, when you are done with your Christmas tree, you can cut it up and use it as pieces of firewood. Christmas trees are the gifts that keep on giving as long as you need them to. Can you do this with a plastic tree? The answer is no.
Overall, authentic Christmas trees are just the better option. They allow you to bond and share memories with your family and provide a classic smell for the season. Christmas trees mark the beginning and end of the Christmas season. They also keep providing gifts for months after Christmas ends. There is honestly nothing better than a live Christmas tree. Get a live Christmas tree. They are superior.
