Ask Lemmy

We have a cat tree we use. So artificial.

When I can, I get a real tree. After Christmas, I trim all the leaves and branches off the trunk and put those in the municipal compost bin. I then put the trunk in storage and let it dry out for a year or two. Once dry, I'll carve them into things like walking sticks, wizard staffs, etc.

Artificial. While it was a ton of plastic I can't get over cutting down a tree every year. Seems wasteful to me. My artificial is exactly the same as it was 10 years ago and I have no need to replace it.

Never bothered with putting a tree up, but I've always kinda wanted to steal this idea:

Real f'sure.

A lot of states sell Christmas tree permits every year, so for 5-10 bucks plus gas I can harvest my own tree(s) sustainably.

It's rad.

If you can't find yourself in any of the states above, it's likely you live in a state with state-run Christmas tree programs. Texas, Oklahoma, any state not in the half of the US listed above will have other state resources for Christmas tree permits and many private tree farms, which are maybe 10 dollars more but offer the same service:

Buy a permit, drive there, choose a tree, chop it down, take it home.

Real, but I keep it in a pot and it goes outside the rest of the year. It's about 3.5' tall at the moment and gets a little bigger each year. I've had it for 4 years now

Fake one. Bought it a decade ago and its still doing just fine.

I haven't had or put up a Christmas tree since I was a child. I don't see the point. I don't do any seasonal decorations. Time moves so fast that it's like a week later I'm taking down a bunch of shit I paid money for and can barely use.

I am surprised at how many artificial tree users there are. Way more than I expected.

I have mostly lived where I could just go get a real one from the woods if I wanted to, so I guess that gives me a bias. If I couldn't have a real tree, I dont think I would want one at all.

I am not much into christmas, but the whole bringing a tree home with a connection to nature makes it worthwhile. Love the smell of a fresh tree too.

Never had issues with needles or bugs so I find that strange as well. I mean sure, the tree drops some needles at the end, but that is what the skirt is for. The few outside of that is just a single day of vacuuming that you would be doing anyways.

Neither. Cutting down a healthy tree for a little ritual seems extremely wasteful to me. I don't care much about Xmas so I don't have a fake tree, either. I do have lights up in the apartment, but they're up year round. I like the colors.

Why would i want a real tree? They're messy and EXTREMELY FLAMABLE

Aluminum pole. No tinsel. It's distracting.

I feel like I'm "not allowed" either.

I grew up in a very religious household/extended family. When I was 19, I became agnostic. But I actually really enjoy the Christmas season and decorations. It doesn't have a religious tie to me, but it has a nostalgic tie to me.

My husband is VERY jaded/exhausted/raged by Christianity as a whole. Their very existence pisses him off. So naturally, Christmas pisses him off.

But in a fantasy world where we could all get past this bullshit -- I'd honestly be happy with either. I grew up with artificial trees, but real trees always seemed better. But killing trees to be a decoration in your home for a month seems wrong..

Final answer- artificial tree would be my choice if I decorated.

Neither

none, my house keeps getting messy despite expending few hours of cleaning every week, no time for extra chores

we've used artificial for at least the last 9 years now. Less cleanup, less expensive and easy to setup

Real.

Cut it down at a tree farm that has a Santa workshop.

Doesn't feel like Christmas without the smell of a real tree. I go out back and cut a small one.

Real.

Price? I just go out in the woods and take one for free.

I hunt my own free range tree. It's satisfying having a hand in is death. Feels good to take that chainsaw to it's body, cut it down in the prime of life, strap it to my truck, let the wind whip through its slowly dying limbs. Drag it inside my house and hack parts off until I'm satisfied it fits. Stand it in my dining room and drop fresh water into a bucket with screws attached that is designed to prolong it's eventual demise. Then after a couple days of letting it slowly warm, we gather as a family and decorate it's festering body with glittering lights, shiny baubbles, and memories of years past. Before we then place gifts below it's slowly dying limbs to exchange with each other on the day we celebrate the world breaking and entry champion for the past 1745 years. After that I wait a few days, rip the glitter off, and toss the remains outside, either in the trash to be buried and gone, or to the graveyard of the trees, where it can finish rotting with others of it's kind.

It's a lot of work, but oh so satisfying.

artificial because killing a tree is repulsive to me. killing a tree for a tradition full of lies makes it even more repulsive

Artificial. Cost me an arm and a leg when I got it, but I've had it for so long it averages less than half the price of a real tree pre year. Plus, I don't have to bother with finding a good tree, transporting it home, and then driving to dump it at the recycling centre.

I bought an artificial one second-hand which felt like the most sustainable option - not cutting a tree down every year and not paying for virgin plastic either. Charity shops here are usually filled with pretty nice ones since a lot of people seem to replace their plastic trees far more frequently than they should.

Have always had artificial. My parents still use the same tree they used when I was a kid. When my wife and I bought our own place we invested in a good quality artificial and I expect it to last just as long.

Real trees are a nice idea but I’ve seen far too many horror stories about them causing fires, and even if they don’t go up in flames they still drop needles and insects everywhere. Why take the risk?

We 'rent' a real tree. After Christmas we bring it back and they re plant it.

Number one cause of house fires around Christmas time, dry trees in homes. We put up the same artificial tree every year.

I used to go real, but lack of proper ones made me go artificial instead.

I grew up on the countryside where part of holiday tradition involved grabbing a saw and finding a proper tree in one of the many woods around the property. Now that I live more urban I have to rely on whatever is on the market. And the quality of the market is awful, so I might as well have something that at least looks good.

Artificial. Didn't even buy it. Picked it up from the curb and fixed it up with new lights

we have a saying at our house, 'its not christmas until you you kill something'

thus, its always a live tree

I have a potted one I drag in and out of the house

When I was a kid we did a real tree. When we visited my brother last year we did a small real tree. Normally we have a fake tree.

We had some deaths in the family and some sicknesses, so we weren't feeling festive last year and set up a 3 foot tall fake tree before we skipped town. This year, today, I set up the big huge fake tree as a surprise while my wife wasn't home. I'm hoping the Christmassy decor without the work will get her into the Christmas spirit. We'll see if she's glad or annoyed. :-D

Ceramic is the only way to go.