As real Christmas trees get more rare by the year, this trend applies to Hunterdon County as well. Despite precautions for owning synthetic Christmas trees, they are still very popular and more are being bought every year.
Fewer people are buying real Christmas trees, as shown through multiple polls and surveys including one from a Guardian article that stated that about 94 million people had Christmas trees in 2021, with 84% being fake trees. This is an alarming change in the average household.
Local tree farmer and sophomore Jake Savacool commented on this trend.
“Pretty much the same families come in and get Christmas trees,” said Savacool. “As the years have gone by, business has pretty much stayed the same.”
It is significantly easier for people in the country to get real Christmas trees, so it is more likely that that rural families will have real trees. The accessibility of synthetic trees is what draws so many people to buy them. This, combined with the ability to reuse them, is the benefit for many buyers.
As good as artificial trees may seem, the side effects of synthetic Christmas trees far outweigh the benefits. Real trees help fight climate change, which are also grown and sold in America for the most part. Most synthetic trees aren’t recyclable and difficult to properly get rid of.
At the end of the day, as quick and easy as it might be, getting a synthetic tree is not always the answer, and you should prioritize both the environment and the community before making your purchase.
