Academic

The Christmas tree dilemma

By Tung Yin

It's not easy finding the ecologically-appropriate way to have a Christmas tree.  Ann Althouse pokes holes in the idea of renting the same potted tree every year:

But ? hello! ? trucks have to drive around delivering and picking up these things, and growing them and preserving them in pots takes some doing. Possible guilt. What nonsense! Why not buy a cut tree and have it ground up into mulch in the end?

She suggests instead buying an artificial tree.

We used to have an artificial Christmas tree, but in the wake of reports about possible lead contamination, we ditched our fake tree (yes, I know, that wasn't very environmentally correct).  Because Oregon grows lots and lots of Christmas trees, we feel okay about supporting the local economy, there's no lead risk (except for the lights), and the house smells of a nice fir now.

Full post as published by The Yin Blog on December 10, 2010 (boomark / email).