Plastic Christmas Trees? Bah, Humbug
Submitted by PlasticLess.com Blog
Here is an excerpt of an article about the Chinese production of artificial trees and plastic Christmas ornaments:
Liao Jiahua, flipped through his glossy catalogue of goods, the economics propelling his business emerged. He pointed at his most popular seller, the “Canadian pine.” The cost of making it at his factory is about $10.80, he said. Three-fourths of the cost is materials, mostly plastic and wire. The rest goes to electricity, water and labor. His 300 workers earn about $125 each per month.
Liao sells each Canadian pine to a company specializing in foreign trade for about $12, he said, booking a 10 percent profit. And when the trading company sells that same tree to retailers who put it on their shelves in the United States, it fetches about $120, he said.
Artificial Christmas trees are one thing that I didn’t have to give up in my quest to consume less plastic. I grew up on a farm that was more than half woodland. There was always a day set aside before Christmas when the most ambitious boys would trudge out through the snow to cut down a promising young fir tree. We would model it outside the kitchen window like we were Barker’s Beauties and my mom would give it a thumbs up or a thumbs down. A tree that was weighed, measured and found wanting would be added to the brush that we used as banking on the North side of the house. The favored one would be brought inside and decorated with… oh, that’s right…PLASTIC STUFF 
If I was planning to have a tree this year, I think I would go with strings of popcorn and other such reusable or compostable stuff. I think I could also get the kids to make an origami tree angel without too much coercion.
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