Chesapeake Bay Foundation-PA: 'Get Real' When Considering A Christmas Tree

By Shannon Gority, Chesapeake Bay Foundation-PA

When considering a Christmas tree this holiday season, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation staff in Pennsylvania urges you to “get real,” and help the environment and local economy at the same time.

Real Christmas trees are recyclable and renewable resources that clean our water and our air and provide important habitat for wildlife. Buying a real Christmas tree every year also supports local growers and that is good for the local economy.

Selecting and cutting your own tree is also an outdoor activity the whole family can enjoy and done safely with all necessary precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

For some people, having a real Christmas tree is not a viable choice. But, according to the National Christmas Tree Association, an artificial petroleum-based tree is used for just six to nine years before it is disposed of, taking up permanent space in the local landfill.

Real trees are biodegradable and after the season can be recycled as mulch or compost, added to the landscape as food and habitat for wildlife, or placed into lakes and ponds to benefit aquatic life. Many communities offer recycling programs and curbside pickup.

Before being cut, real Christmas trees absorb air pollutants and emit fresh oxygen. They stabilize soil and reduce erosion, while reducing polluted runoff by filtering and absorbing pollutants that would otherwise flow into local rivers and streams.

At CBF, we know a thing or two about the value of trees. 

With nearly 150 partners across Pennsylvania, we are working to plant 10 million of them by the end of 2025, through the Keystone 10 Million Trees Partnership. 

Our focus is on adding a wide array of native trees to Penn’s Woods.

You can add these same benefits to your home landscape by choosing to buy a real tree in burlap or a container and planting it after the holiday season.

Buying a real Christmas tree supports the more than 100,000 employees and 15,000 growers in the United States. Pennsylvania has over 1,400 Christmas tree farms, fourth-most in the nation behind Oregon, North Carolina, and Michigan.

Douglas fir and Fraser fir are the two most popular species grown in the Keystone State.

Tree farms account for nearly 31,000 acres in the Commonwealth and about one million trees are cut each year. 

Three seedlings are planted to replace one cut tree.

As for care during the holidays, providing adequate water is vital to keeping real Christmas trees fresh and reducing needle loss.

It is recommended that the water level in the tree stand, with a capacity of at least one gallon, be kept above the base of the tree. The water level should be checked daily. 

If the tree has been cut for more than 12 hours before purchase, cutting a one-quarter inch disk at the base is recommended to improve water intake. Trees should be kept away from fireplaces, heaters, and other sources of heat. 

A list of Christmas tree farms in the Commonwealth is available at the Pennsylvania Christmas Tree Growers Association website.

Also visit the Keystone 10 Million Trees Partnership to learn how you can help clean water grow on trees.

For more on Chesapeake Bay-related issues in Pennsylvania, visit the Chesapeake Bay Foundation-PA webpage.  Click Here to sign up for Pennsylvania updates (bottom of left column).  Click Here to support their work.

CBF has over 275,000 members in Bay Watershed.

[PA Chesapeake Bay Plan

[For more information on how Pennsylvania plans to meet its Chesapeake Bay cleanup obligations, visit DEP’s PA’s Phase 3 Watershed Implementation Plan webpage.

[Click Here for a summary of the steps the Plan recommends.

[How Clean Is Your Stream?

[DEP’s Interactive Report Viewer allows you to zoom in on your own stream or watershed to find out how clean your stream is or if it has impaired water quality using the latest information in the draft 2020 Water Quality Report.]

Shannon Gority is PA executive director, Chesapeake Bay Foundation

NewsClips:

Real Christmas Trees Become A Bright Spot Amid Pandemic

Christmas Tree Growers See Strong Opening Weekends Amid Pandemic

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[Posted: December 4, 2020]  PA Environment Digest