Ask Lemmy

We have a cat tree we use. So artificial.

collapsed inline media

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:

collapsed inline media

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

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?

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

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

Neither

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

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

thus, its always a live tree

A real tree 🎄 The smell and the beautiful imperfection, that is Christmas 🥰

Ceramic is the only way to go.

Frugal family, never had a tree. I didn't care either. I just wished we did something fun as a family. I see normal families on tv and I feel jealous. My parents aren't like bad, but they kinda aren't good either. None of the holidays were really memorable in particular. I had "okay" moments, but nothing really "wholesome" that i could share.

Like any useful gifts or really just family time to some new place is all I want, fuck trees, I personally don't care, it doesn't really do anything.

I mean colorful lighting would look cool, but trees? Meh.

(I'm not born in a western country for context)

Our annual tradition is to go out into the bush and cut one down. Then we make a fire and have a hot dog roast.

I used to have a pine sapling that I grow in a pot, and always used it as a Christmas tree in winter. But one year it died. I tried to grow another after that, but failed twice. Now my confidence of keeping a sapling alive is all gone. Maybe I should make a cardboard one this year. Or maybe just use a different plant that's not a pine, fir or yew.

Neither!

Both!

Since my kids were young, we've made it a tradition to go out to forest service land and cut down a real tree (with a cheap permit), which helps with wildfire mitigation. The trees are usually kind of scrawny and awkward as they're not grown on a tree farm where they're all spaced apart and tended to during their growth, but the experience is fun. We put our cheap, lightweight ornaments on that.

Our main tree is a fake one that we can put up earlier.

I'm lucky enough to have a yard, so years ago I planted a dwarf spruce to be our living Christmas tree. We string it up with solar lights for the holidays.

I just put lights on my fig tree lol

It's like $10 to pay the Forest Service for a tag to cut one down yourself in the USA