arrives It’s time to place the Christmas and traditional tree. But what to do? WhatWhich is the most sustainable?? Shall we choose the real one or the plastic one? Considering that we should also pay attention to the environment in this regard, the quick answer is that a real tree is preferred, because plastic ones cause greater environmental impact. But everything is not so simple, because there are nuances that need to be known.
As we all know, trees help mitigate climate change by capturing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing it in their branches, roots and needles. Christmas trees are no different, so cutting them might seem like a bad idea.
Y, Of course, it is not recommended to cut down a tree in the forest to decorate our house.. Again, In the case of grown specimens, these trees may even represent an advantage for the natural environment. In these cases, it will take more than 10 years for future Christmas trees to grow up to 1.8 meters. All the while, these trees will act as a haven for countless bird species and other animals, and of course absorb carbon from the atmosphere.
However, not every tree planted is a guarantee of sustainability. You have to consider how that specimen was raised., especially regarding the heavy use of pesticides. It would not be acceptable for that plantation to be planted in the ground at the cost of destroying valuable natural ecosystems.
Cultivation and production of Christmas trees It is an important source of income in the vast rural areas of Catalonia, Navarra and the Basque Country.where nearly three million trees were sold in the days leading up to the festivities. The two most commonly grown species are Norway spruce (picea excelsea) and Caucasian fir (abies nordmanniana). It is useful to know about environmental certification seals It is the guarantee of cultivated Christmas trees, because of their sustainable origin.
buy them close to home
And in the same way, planting a tree near our city or town is not the same as purchasing a sample from a store that has taken it by ship or plane from a distant place. In this latter case, our Christmas tree will have produced emissions into the atmosphere due to the transportation it uses during its long journey. Like this, always choose local nurseries.
Actually, Up to 80 percent of artificial trees worldwide are produced in China. As they are shipped or flown around the world, large amounts of carbon emissions will be released.
The sustainability of a tree is also determined by the way it is removed when it is no longer suitable for Christmas use. If sent to a landfill, it will cause an impact as real wood will decompose and produce methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. If we choose to incinerate it, this will have consequences for the atmosphere as well, because burning it releases carbon dioxide and other pollutants into the air. So what to do? The best removal method is to mulch the tree, sawdust or mulch.
Plastic trees: a bad alternative
What about artificial trees? Its proponents rightly claim that they are used multiple times each year. But even if that’s true, heArtificial trees have the big disadvantage that they are made of plastic.
These fake trees are usually made from polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Although this material is durable, it is one of the most harmful plastics for the environment. Due to its high chlorine content, PVC can produce toxic contamination in the form of dioxins that accumulate in the bodies of animals along the food chain.. PVC is also very difficult to recycle and ends up in landfills where it will remain for decades.
Besides, The carbon footprint of a plastic tree is higher than that of a real tree. According to the private portal Iflscience, a fake tree is equivalent to about 40 kilograms of greenhouse gas emissions; this is more than twice the amount of a real tree left in a landfill and 10 times more than a real tree that has been burned.
But What if we already have a plastic tree at home? The best thing to do is not to get rid of it. and continue to use it for as many years as possible.
For this reason, it is always preferable to have a real tree grown in a sustainable and local nursery a short distance from where it will be installed, and convert it at the end of its life into sawdust or sawdust for domestic use.
Again, there is also the third way to build ourselves a Christmas tree with waste and waste that we will no longer use. Using our imagination, we can decorate the house in an original and sustainable way.
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