Risu-Risu offers you 24 days of magic to prepare an eco-friendly and fun Christmas with your family!
With our advent calendar, you can discover our daily articles every day, both in the newspaper and on Instagram. From today until December 24th, we'll be sharing exclusive Christmas-themed content, including tips, recipes, great deals, looks, and more!
And for this first day of December, we're tackling a sensitive subject right away: choosing the Christmas tree!
When we dream of Christmas, we surely think of snow, presents, and... the Christmas tree! That's certainly true for me, and what a dilemma it is when you're mindful of your carbon footprint. So, real tree or artificial? Given that one out of every two Christmas trees is bought before December 10th, we hope this article will help you make a more informed decision if you're still undecided! Just so you know, this article is not sponsored; it simply represents the author's point of view.
A quick look at the figures
The French Association of Natural Christmas Trees published a study (1) showing that in 2021, 6.6 million Christmas trees were sold, of which 5.9 million were natural Christmas trees.
In total, 88% of the Christmas trees were recycled, of which 7% were replanted by their buyer.
Let's not forget to mention that for 68% of those surveyed, the French origin of the Christmas tree is an important criterion when buying one. However, 20% of Christmas trees are still shipped from Belgium or Denmark (2).
Choosing natural products, why not?
There are still some good points for local sourcing and recycling. The balance would therefore tip more in favor of natural trees, especially when you consider the CO2 absorbed by the tree as it grows: the carbon footprint of a natural tree is 3.1 kg of CO2 emissions per year, compared to 8.1 kg for an artificial one (3). However, be mindful of how you buy the tree! Indeed, if you travel more than 10 km round trip, the carbon footprint increases.
This trend is confirmed by the price study: €30 on average for a natural Christmas tree, compared to €45.50 for an artificial one.
Natural… really?
Let's look a little further, and consider the impact of Christmas trees, natural or artificial, on our health and on biodiversity (3).
A natural Christmas tree undergoes up to 100 chemical treatments (4) before being cut down—that's enormous! This is mainly due to intensive tree farming methods, which are often devastating to the ecosystem. The impact of a natural Christmas tree is therefore unfortunately five times more negative for biodiversity than that of an artificial one.
Artificial Christmas tree, a natural solution?
Not so fast! Artificial Christmas trees are made of plastic, certainly, but also steel. Steel requires a lot of resources to manufacture and is rarely recycled (3). The idea would be to keep your tree year after year. A nice idea in theory, but in practice, households keep their artificial trees for an average of 6 years, far from the 20 years estimated in the study to avoid polluting more than with a natural tree (3).
Natural vs. artificial: conclusion
The choice is yours! As is often the case with environmental issues, it's never black and white; it's up to you to decide which criteria matter most. Remember that there are labels that guarantee less pollution, such as MPS ABC ( https://my-mps.com/france/ ) or PEFC, but these aren't the only ones. Consider secondhand options, or even "inspired" Christmas trees like hanging trees made from branches, stacks of books shaped like trees, candles placed on a pretty painted board, and so on.
In any case, at Risu-Risu, green inspired the Evergreen velvet, featured on the Gava coat or the Maline dress. Chic, warm, and eco-friendly!
1 - https://www.noel-vert.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Marche-du-sapin-de-noel-2022.pdf
2 - https://www.actu-environnement.com/ae/news/comment-choisir-sapin-noel-ecologique-34705.php4
3 - https://ellipsos.ca/lca-christmas-tree-natural-vs-artificial/
