Darn thing looked like it was made of green pipe cleaners!

This post isn't really about that, though, but assuaging my incredible eco-guilt.  Ever since I was a young girl, I have wanted a real Christmas tree.  I didn't care if it was a Charlie Brown tree, needles dripping everywhere and limbs barely holding an ornament.  Everyone I knew had a real tree and I just loved them.  I loved looking at them, smelling their sweet, woodsy scent and enjoying not just the feel of Christmas, but an overall winter joy.

We had an artificial tree, which was just not the same to me.  Some might say 'a tree is a tree', but to me it was not.  It has been said that scent of smell is the strongest link to memory, and I would love for my kids (as adults) to inhale the fresh piney scent outdoors and have happy (we can hope) memories come flooding back.  Not just of receiving gifts, but of time together, time spent giving to others, and time just enjoying the season and the reason for the season.

So I decided I would have two traditions for our family:  a real tree for Christmas and dressing up that tree as soon as possible.  Not just with bows or glass balls, but gifts underneath (except "smelly" cat or dog gifts) tempting and tantalizing us for days to weeks on end.  

Then we started moving around the world and eco-guilt hit.  Were we chopping down the country's only trees?  Were fake ones not better?  Even in Venezuela, we managed to find a small but suitable tree.   Later we attempted a fake one in Iceland, and loathed it.  The lights were the awful 1970's colors, no white but a weird yellow instead.   We used it for two years, then donated it.

We forgot about donating it until last year when it was time to put it up.  So, we ended up heading to the Ikea where they had quite a few for sale.  Iceland has a fabulous recycling/composting center, so we were not worried that we would not be able to dispose of the tree in an environmentally safe manner.  If nothing else, at least it could biodegrade.  However, that left us to toy with the notion of what to do this year for the next 11 months.

I still wanted to keep my real tree tradition.  However, Pete enjoyed the pre-lit part of the fake trees. Then I was reading an email from a group I belong to and found this reference to an article about artificial trees.  My kids don't wear flame-retardant pajamas for obvious reasons, and people are constantly up-in-arms about lead paint; should we not extend the same concern to the tree we hover about for a good part of our holiday season?

 Wonder what the eco-experts think?  Check out articles here and here.  A fake tree will never biodegrade and will sit in a landfill forever, polluting for generations to come.  If you already have one, I am not saying not to use it, but keep the kids away until you test for lead.  My personal take is it isn't worth the risk to my family, no matter how slight.  Not when we have a more natural way to enjoy the season.

Sentimental reasons aside, we are now permanently a 'real tree' family.  If we live overseas and can't find/feel too guilty to chop one down, we will find a good ole Ficus or figure out something else equally creative.   Besides, they will always have newer and more realistic artificial trees.  If something realistic is truly your goal, why not go for the real thing?