‘Tis the season to be jolly but how can we have a merry Christmas when millions of trees are being chopped down?

Families should transition from a real Christmas tree to an artificial one because they save time, money and the environment.

Artificial Christmas trees are cost-effective as families simply need to buy and use one each Christmas, keeping it stowed away for the remainder of the year.

According to a study conducted by the American Christmas Tree Association, families spend an average of $80 per year on Christmas trees. This accumulates as the years pass, with an yearly cost every time Christmas comes around.

“I don’t feel like spending a lot of money on buying a Christmas tree each year,” junior Lucy Nuzzo said. “It’s so much easier to just keep an artificial one and decorate it a bit differently each year.”

As noted by The Nature Conservancy, approximately 30 to 36 million trees are cut and harvested for the holiday season. This releases carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses, which are detrimental to the environment.

Creating reusable Christmas trees also does not require mass deforestation and can be reused for decades, proving to be more beneficial to the environment.

According to the New York Times, a high-quality artificial Christmas tree may last over 15 years with proper care.

Additionally, artificial Christmas trees are efficient to set up and keep on display for longer without turning brown or making a mess around the house.

“I always hate having to clean up the mess of a real Christmas tree,” Nuzzo said. “By the time Christmas is over, you have to clean up all the dead trees and lug the tree out of the house just to throw it away.”

Furthermore, artificial Christmas trees are beneficial to the elderly and disabled population as setting it up does not come with the hassle of lugging a large tree into the home.

“My grandparents use a reusable Christmas tree each year since they’re handicapped and don’t always have the ability to go out and get one,” junior Hannah Hoffman said.

Some might argue that artificial Christmas trees don’t possess the nostalgic scent of a fresh evergreen. However, environmental as well as financial consequences greatly outweigh the insignificant dilemma of a home scent.

Artificial Christmas trees can save large amounts of time and money while preserving the authentic warmth of the holiday season and keeping family traditions alive.