The decision to buy a 7-foot, 30-year-old Concolor — known to the pulp and paper industry as a white fir — versus an artificial tree was an easy one, Abel said.
"It smells like a tree. An artificial tree doesn't," she said. "And when we get done with it we put it out for the birds and other animals."
While choosing a real tree was easy for the Abels, it isn't so easy for people focused more on the environment.
Thanksgiving is past, the annual debate over what is the most environmentally friendly tree is joined and both sides are adamant they offer the correct choice.
"If you choose an artificial tree you are saving a real tree," said Sarah Gordon, co-owner of Gordon Companies, a Buffalo, N.Y.-based firm selling artificial Christmas trees around the world through its Web site, www.christmascentral.com.
"Artificial trees are a lot more convenient, their needles don't drop and the technology has advanced enough so most are prelit and if one bulb goes out, the rest stay lit," Gordon said.
Gordon's claim that buying an artificial tree saves a real tree is not quite accurate, said Kathy Waite, who operates the Kaukauna lot near the intersection of U.S. 41 and Outagamie County J.
Waite said most real trees are grown and harvested from tree farms just like other farm crops.
"We plant at least 2,000 trees a year. While they are growing they absorb carbon dioxide and produce oxygen," Waite said. "They are good in controlling erosion and good for the wildlife."
On the flip side, Gordon said, real trees can bring remnants of pesticides and bugs into a home.
"Bringing bugs into your home, that's gross," Gordon said. "And some people have allergies to real trees."
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The fear of bugs was not a concern for the nation's first family.
The tree, planted in 1996, was accepted by first lady Michelle Obama and will be on display in the Blue Room of the White House.
Artificial trees traditionally have taken a bad rap in the real-versus-fake debate.
According to information on the Web site planetgreen.discovery.com, artificial Christmas trees are largely made from PVC, a petroleum-derived plastic.
The Web site notes most plastic trees come from China and exceed U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recommendations in lead levels in consumer products. Lead, a heavy metal, has been linked to long-term behavioral issues and brain damage.
Gordon said the lead scare involving artificial trees is totally unfounded.
"Lead poisoning is not a danger unless you eat the electrical wires powering the lights," Gordon said. "That would be no different than eating the wires of the lights on a real Christmas tree."
According to the National Christmas Tree Association, between 40 million and 45 million trees were planted in 2008 in North America.
According to the association, consumers participating in a 2008 poll spent an average of $36.50 on a real tree, or a total of $1.03 billion. Buyers of artificial Christmas trees participating in the poll spent an average of $60.63 per tree, for a total of $709 million.
Wisconsin in 2008 ranked fifth in the harvest of trees for Christmas, according to the association. The 950,440 trees harvested ranked behind Oregon (6.85 million), North Carolina (3 million) Michigan (1.6 million) and Pennsylvania (1.8 million).
Buying a real Christmas tree is good both for Wisconsin's economy and the environment, says Bill Bruins, president of the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation.
The fear of bugs was not a concern for the nation's first family.
The tree, planted in 1996, was accepted by first lady Michelle Obama and will be on display in the Blue Room of the White House.
Artificial trees traditionally have taken a bad rap in the real-versus-fake debate.
According to information on the Web site planetgreen.discovery.com, artificial Christmas trees are largely made from PVC, a petroleum-derived plastic.
The Web site notes most plastic trees come from China and exceed U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recommendations in lead levels in consumer products. Lead, a heavy metal, has been linked to long-term behavioral issues and brain damage.
Gordon said the lead scare involving artificial trees is totally unfounded.
"Lead poisoning is not a danger unless you eat the electrical wires powering the lights," Gordon said. "That would be no different than eating the wires of the lights on a real Christmas tree."
According to the National Christmas Tree Association, between 40 million and 45 million trees were planted in 2008 in North America.
According to the association, consumers participating in a 2008 poll spent an average of $36.50 on a real tree, or a total of $1.03 billion. Buyers of artificial Christmas trees participating in the poll spent an average of $60.63 per tree, for a total of $709 million.
Wisconsin in 2008 ranked fifth in the harvest of trees for Christmas, according to the association. The 950,440 trees harvested ranked behind Oregon (6.85 million), North Carolina (3 million) Michigan (1.6 million) and Pennsylvania (1.8 million).
Buying a real Christmas tree is good both for Wisconsin's economy and the environment, says Bill Bruins, president of the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation.
"While the farmers market season might be over, buying a real Christmas tree is a great way for consumers to add some green to Wisconsin's economy and environment," said Bruins, a Fond du Lac County dairy farmer who leads Wisconsin's largest farm organization.
Wisconsin is home to more than 1,100 Christmas tree farms that annually harvest trees from more than 33,000 acres of land.
Bruins says it's time to dispel the notion that cutting down a Christmas tree harms the environment.
"In fact, having a real Christmas tree is a better environmental option, because they are a recyclable and renewable resource," he said. "Most tree farms plant one to three trees for every one cut."
Bruins said that after the holidays, real trees don't end up in a landfill like artificial trees eventually do. Instead, these biodegradable products can be recycled into mulch, and have also been made into soil erosion barriers and placed in ponds for fish shelters."
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