More Indiana families are opting to buy a real tree this season and that may be because of environmental concerns.
Christmas tree production is big business in Indiana. The state has 200 tree farms and around 200,000 choose and cut trees will be sold in Indiana this year.
Purdue Professor of Forestry and Natural Resources, Daniel Cassens says it’s hard to determine which type of tree is better for the environment because not enough studies have been done, but he says real trees are renewable, produce oxygen, provide wildlife habitat and can be recycled.
One Canadian study found that a 7-foot real tree accounted for 53 pounds of carbon dioxide, while a 6-foot artificial tree produced twice that amount.
Cassens says Christmas trees are like any other Hoosier crop.
"We plant these trees and it just happens to take seven years before we get that seven to eight foot tree," Cassens explains.
For every real Christmas tree harvested in Indiana, one to three seedlings are planted the next spring.
Hoosier families looking to find a cut and choose tree and learn more at indianachristmastree.com.
