Do you prefer having a fake or real Christmas tree? / LJWorld.com

Asked at Massachusetts Street on December 7, 2010

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“A real one, it’s more of an authentic feel. It’s more wholesome.”

— Colt Coffin, sociology and human services major, Ottawa

“A real Christmas tree. I like the smell of it.”

— Sally Franks, CSL Plasma employee, Lawrence

“Real. That’s what we have.”

— Ed Parker, management, Lawrence

“Fake. There’s less mess to clean.”

— Brita Calnon, stay-at-home mom, Lawrence

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misterlee 2 years, 5 months ago

fake. I'm lazy.

grammaddy 2 years, 5 months ago

Why must thousands, perhaps millions of pine trees sacrifice their lives each year so that we may decorate them and keep them in our homes for a few weeks? I like the smell of them but I'll use my artificial one again this year. I's easier to clean up at the end of it all.

staff04 2 years, 5 months ago

Fir is murder!

JJE007 2 years, 5 months ago

Good one!-D

Blessed4x 2 years, 5 months ago

So which is worse, Grammaddy, cutting down a live tree that otherwise would never have been planted OR using a fake tree that was produced using petroleum for the branches and ore for the trunck, coal-fired power plants for the power for the manufacturer, diesel engines to transport the tree over land or across the ocean, paper to construct the box, electricity for the warehouse/store in which it was housed only to end up with a product that will probably be thrown away in a few years and never fully bio-degrade? I'm not even a greenie and I can see the answer to that question. Besides, spruce make the best Christmas trees, not pine.

reader12345 2 years, 5 months ago

Stop crying and go smoke more weed hippie.

none2 2 years, 5 months ago

Why do you assume that a fake tree gets thrown away in a few years? I still have a full size fake tree that was given to me 20 years ago. I also have a foot tall fake tree that our family got in 1966 when we didn't think we could afford anything else in a little apartment where we stayed at the time.

The fake trees are safer inside as they are less of a fire hazard. If you want a real tree, plant one in your yard and put lights on it at Christmas time. That way it can be seen by more people instead of just a few that are inside or those that can see it from a nearby window.

Considering that I've never heard of a house fire from a fake tree or a real tree outside, it seems like a much more prudent arrangement.

. A side plus to fake trees is that you can also pass down a fake tree from generation to generation like you can do with ornaments.

snap_pop_no_crackle 2 years, 5 months ago

Nothing says Christmas like pagan Germanic traditions.

Pywacket 2 years, 5 months ago

As an atheist who celebrates the holiday for its secular traditions, I agree.

booyalab 2 years, 5 months ago

shopping, you mean?

Pywacket 2 years, 5 months ago

Not so much. I like the focus on evergreens and their symbolism, decorative lights (within reason--don't know what to think of the obsessive, swamp-the-neighborhood types), getting together with friends and family, the special baked goods (I do several types of cookies, shortbread, filled and decorated yule logs, etc), and the general good will that tries to prevail over the commercialism.

AreUNorml 2 years, 5 months ago

Sixth! look mom, I'm like KU Law...

RoeDapple 2 years, 5 months ago

Kill a Tree For Jesus!

xbusguy 2 years, 5 months ago

We have plenty of trees outside----where they belong.

introversion 2 years, 5 months ago

We invite friends out to cut down free red cedars to help with our eradication. I know, I know... Leave it to the liberals to turn tree-killing into a re-purposing activity....

thebigspoon 2 years, 5 months ago

Real

trinity 2 years, 5 months ago

prefer real but have fake this year-very smallish house. sure do miss the big ol' trees! :( and yeah they're a mess-but then again a person should clean anyway so what's the big whoop about sweeping up pine needles?

misterlee 2 years, 5 months ago

I learned many years ago at KU that Kansas is the only state without a native pine tree. I'm not sure what that has to do with this discussion, but I felt I should share that fact.

RETICENT_IRREVERENT 2 years, 5 months ago

Damn heathens. "Gotta be real. Gotta keep the Christmas tree farmers in business." - T_O_B

Same ratiocination for meth dealers?

riverdrifter 2 years, 5 months ago

Like...

RETICENT_IRREVERENT 2 years, 5 months ago

g-rock, Rachael Ray is giving away a 6' orange tree from Treetopia to whoever posts the funniest holiday story on her Facebook Fan page.

CWGOKU 2 years, 5 months ago

Real My wife has fakes ones and they are spectacular

Andini 2 years, 5 months ago

I prefer natural ones as well.

rockchalker52 2 years, 5 months ago

I'll bet decorating is a lot of fun at your house.

lily 2 years, 5 months ago

Love the idea of real but scared of fire hazard. I like my tree to be up a long time so artificial works best. So I decorate my live ones out front and all is good.

somedude20 2 years, 5 months ago

aluminum " Airing of Grievances Festivus Pole"

Pitt_Mackeson 2 years, 5 months ago

propped right next to the fireplace! Don't forget the dynamite, when all that goes off Santa Claus will be launched into the Sun!

JayCat_67 2 years, 5 months ago

Or at least he won't have any trouble making it around the world in one night.

consumer1 2 years, 5 months ago

I have a real fake one!! The best of both worlds.

snap_pop_no_crackle 2 years, 5 months ago

Do you decorate it with real plastic snow? http://xmas-depot.com/christmas/49981.html

RETICENT_IRREVERENT 2 years, 5 months ago

Seriously, a real tree is just an improvised high-impulse thermobaric weapon.

jd 2 years, 5 months ago

Real trees are nice, smell good and help local growers but they are an extreme fire hazard, so be careful.

http://www.nfpa.org/categoryList.asp?categoryID=296&URL=Safety%20Information/For%20consumers/Holidays/Christmas%20tree%20fires&cookie_test=1

jonas_opines 2 years, 5 months ago

We just give a poor third world child a paycheck for a few weeks by having them stand very still holding sheets of green construction paper and put a few ornaments on them.

jonas_opines 2 years, 5 months ago

We did try casting one in paper mache to get a more authentic trunk color and feel, but they stopped moving and started to smell after just 5 days. On retrospect, I suppose we could have stopped at the neck.

CWGOKU 2 years, 5 months ago

Funny, sick, but funny.

jonas_opines 2 years, 5 months ago

Honestly, somewhat surprised that it stayed up.

fleeba 2 years, 5 months ago

I would love to have a real one, but the kitty cats love them way too much! So we'll stick with our 12 inch black tree decorated with Halloween items.. She has served us well for many years. Purrrfect fit for the atheist household that celebrates a commercial holiday.

notanoobhere 2 years, 5 months ago

This comment was removed by the site staff for violation of the usage agreement.

Ron Holzwarth 2 years, 5 months ago

When I was young, Christmas was never very pleasant because Mom was always sick.

She did the best she could to put on a cheery face, but her illness could not be hidden. Her eyes turned red, her nose ran, and she had a terrific headache all the time. It made Christmas a real downer for us kids.

And then one day she realized - she's allergic to evergreen! After that, we always had an artificial tree, and Christmas was a happy holiday!

JayCat_67 2 years, 5 months ago

Dang! And I was expecting you to tell us all about how some stranger helped you buy a pair of shoes for her...(I hate that friggin' song)

trinity 2 years, 5 months ago

do you really want to open up that can of worms already? seems i remember being accused of tree murder, harming the environment, etc for as long as i've been registered on this here ljw thing! maybe we should just dig up a three or four year old tree debacle thread&have at it...educate those who think real is harmful...

Pywacket 2 years, 5 months ago

Hello? Are you aware that the only reason they are growing and filtering the air for as long as they do is because they are a COMMERCIAL AGRICULTURAL CROP? They are being grown specifically and only for harvest. If that land were not used for evergreen cultivation, it would probably be used for corn or wheat--something that depletes the soil and (thanks to modern farming practices) uses far more nasty chemicals and labor.

Geez, people.....

Why don't you go calculate what it costs the environment in the manufacture of thousands of plastic (from petroleum) fake trees each year? Or how long they will last in the landfills they end up in?

Generally, I have no issue with people who choose a fake tree. They're wonderful for people with allergies. There are lots of other practical reasons to choose them. But if you're going to start in on what a terrible thing it is to cut down a real one..... look at both sides of the coin before you open your mouth. And do some research.

There are valid arguments against natural trees but "harmful to the environment b/c they filter poisons...etc... is not one of them. For each live tree, that's 7 years (on avg) of air filtering that wouldn't be happening if they were not being grown for the holiday.

riverdrifter 2 years, 5 months ago

None. There only one place I could put a tree in my house and there's a gun safe there now. Ain't a gonna move thet sucker.

Pywacket 2 years, 5 months ago

Yes, but do you hang tinsel and candy canes on it? ;-)

somedude20 2 years, 5 months ago

"There is trouble in the forest, And the creatures all have fled, As the maples scream "Oppression!" And the oaks just shake their heads"

bruno2 2 years, 5 months ago

I'm sure conservatives love cutting down real trees, their hero was all for it:

"Trees cause more pollution than automobiles do." -- Ronald Reagan, 1981

"A tree is a tree. How many more do you have to look at?" -- Ronald Reagan, 1966, opposing expansion of Redwood National Park as governor of California

That said, real trees are farmed for the holiday, help the environment, and look and smell much nicer. As for the fire hazard, water the darn thing! We do and ours is still nice and fresh when we take it to the curb. Then the city recycles it. Perfect.

Pywacket 2 years, 5 months ago

What an original and fact-based observation! The best a right winger can do is mouth meaningless platitudes. You guys never fail to live down to the stereotypes.

overplayedhistory 2 years, 5 months ago

If you have never been anything but one or the other, you have never had any thoughts that were your own.

consumer1 2 years, 5 months ago

I opened a can of worms once, I tried hanging worms on my tree last year, it was pretty cool seeing them all wiggle around. But the next day they were all gone??? Couldn't find them anyplace?? I wondered why my living room smelled like a bait shop for the following 10 days.

Pitt_Mackeson 2 years, 5 months ago

I did the same thing with my can of worms. They escaped the tree, crawled into my ears and ate my brains.

notanoobhere 2 years, 5 months ago

thats when you registered democrat.

raerae 2 years, 5 months ago

I prefer garlands with lights, but the hubs insists on a tree.
I like shiny aluminum ones, but had to settle for shiny white, with built-in lights. It was not as tempting for the household furballs to try and pull down, either.

Lazy? yes. I save my "domestic talents" for other rooms of the house.

... and yes, they're real.

jkanderson 2 years, 5 months ago

Preferred real until the year of the spider. Was gone for a couple of days and returned to a tree encased in a beautiful spider web with webs extending up to the vaulted ceiling and hundreds of tiny spiders marching toward the ceiling on the webs. First time the tree came down before Christmas and we have done phoney ever year since.

Dejacrew423 2 years, 5 months ago

Colt!!!!!! Yay!!!

Dejacrew423 2 years, 5 months ago

Sorry, I get a little excited when I see people on here I know! Okay... I prefer a real one but because of smaller children I've used a fake one for the last few years. Hopefully we'll go back to real trees when they are older.

riverdrifter 2 years, 5 months ago

"They say that love

is like Christmas card

You decorate a tree and throw it in the yard"

--John Prine

riverdrifter 2 years, 5 months ago

Damn. Like a Christmas card.

pace 2 years, 5 months ago

When the kids were little we always had a Christmas limb, but now we use a piece of string. We string it across a small window and hang an ornament on it. When the kids are in town we will often put 2 or 3 different ornaments on it. World Peas for everyone.