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Do you prefer having a fake or real Christmas tree?

Asked at Massachusetts Street on December 7, 2010

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Photo of Colt Coffin

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

— Colt Coffin, sociology and human services major, Ottawa

Photo of Sally Franks

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

— Sally Franks, CSL Plasma employee, Lawrence

Photo of Ed Parker

“Real. That’s what we have.”

— Ed Parker, management, Lawrence

Photo of Brita Calnon

“Fake. There’s less mess to clean.”

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

Comments

ku_law 7 years, 6 months ago

First. Real.

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Bill Lee 7 years, 6 months ago

fake. I'm lazy.

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Maddy Griffin 7 years, 6 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.

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Blessed4x 7 years, 6 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.

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reader12345 7 years, 6 months ago

Stop crying and go smoke more weed hippie.

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Flap Doodle 7 years, 6 months ago

Nothing says Christmas like pagan Germanic traditions.

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Stuart Evans 7 years, 6 months ago

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

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RoeDapple 7 years, 6 months ago

Kill a Tree For Jesus!

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Chris Ogle 7 years, 6 months ago

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

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introversion 7 years, 6 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....

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thebigspoon 7 years, 6 months ago

Real

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trinity 7 years, 6 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?

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Bill Lee 7 years, 6 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.

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Terry Sexton 7 years, 6 months ago

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

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lily 7 years, 6 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.

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somedude20 7 years, 6 months ago

aluminum " Airing of Grievances Festivus Pole"

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Pitt_Mackeson 7 years, 6 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!

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JayCat_67 7 years, 6 months ago

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

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jd 7 years, 6 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

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jonas_opines 7 years, 6 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.

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jonas_opines 7 years, 6 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.

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jonas_opines 7 years, 6 months ago

Honestly, somewhat surprised that it stayed up.

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Chrissy Neibarger 7 years, 6 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.

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notanoobhere 7 years, 6 months ago

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

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Ron Holzwarth 7 years, 6 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!

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JayCat_67 7 years, 6 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)

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trinity 7 years, 6 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...

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riverdrifter 7 years, 6 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.

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somedude20 7 years, 6 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"

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bruno2 7 years, 6 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.

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Pitt_Mackeson 7 years, 6 months ago

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

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Rae Hudspeth 7 years, 6 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.

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Lacy Mohler 7 years, 6 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.

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Deja Coffin 7 years, 6 months ago

Colt!!!!!! Yay!!!

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Deja Coffin 7 years, 6 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.

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riverdrifter 7 years, 6 months ago

"They say that love

is like Christmas card

You decorate a tree and throw it in the yard"

--John Prine

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riverdrifter 7 years, 6 months ago

Damn. Like a Christmas card.

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pace 7 years, 6 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.

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slvrntrt 7 years, 6 months ago

Real, but then my cat would eat it and puke everywhere.

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pace 7 years, 6 months ago

We considered using artificial string but decided it looked trashy.We use 100 percent cotton string recycled from Grandma's string ball.

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beeshlii 7 years, 6 months ago

my wife fakes, so i like everything fake.

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