Christmas Market Oddities: Why Danish Firs Are Not Quite Danish, and Is It Eco-Friendly to Buy Artificial Trees

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

The Christmas tree market is complex, and the global turnover of fluffy beauties is quite curious. Judge for yourself: natural trees are delivered to Singapore from the USA, to Russia - from Denmark. And artificial trees for the whole world are made mostly by the Chinese, who do not celebrate our New Year and Christmas at all. In general, everything is confused in this world - even to the question "Which trees are more environmentally friendly?" neither sellers nor buyers can answer unequivocally …

Christmas tree Denmark

Interestingly, most of the Christmas trees in European homes are from Denmark. A fluffy beauty from this country, which is scientifically called Nordman's fir, is in demand every year both in the West and at Moscow Christmas tree bazaars. Why? Because Denmark grows them on a huge scale, which makes it a leading producer in the EU and currently an important supplier of live Christmas trees to Russia.

For conservationists, it should be noted that these trees have not been sawed in forests for a long time, but are cultivated on special plantations, and Danish suppliers have been engaged in this business for more than a dozen years. So, the buyer does not cause any damage to the real forest by buying a natural New Year tree. And although in the same Sweden or Norway, abundant forest resources, if desired, would allow cutting down enough Christmas trees (which would just affect the ecological situation), they do not get into European houses on New Year's and Christmas. Here are some statistics: Denmark produces about 10 million Christmas trees a year, while its domestic market absorbs only 10%. Farming potential first emerged in the 1990s when the country joined the European Union with its farm subsidy system.

Although such a beauty does not have such a strong coniferous aroma as an ordinary spruce, it does not crumble for a very long time and captivates with a bluish shade of needles.

As Holland is associated with tulips, so Denmark is today the main world supplier of Christmas trees, but, what is most interesting, farmers buy seeds for them in Russia. By the way, "Danish" Nordmann fir grows in the wild in our Caucasus, as well as in neighboring countries - Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The trees that emerged from the seeds are first grown for several years in special incubators and only then are planted on plantations. They are cut down for sale at about 9-10 years of age, and before that they are regularly plucked, giving the correct shape. Those trees that do not correspond to the norm by their appearance do not go on sale - they are usually simply destroyed.

As for domestic Christmas trees, they are also grown on plantations. Our spruce trees crumble faster, but due to the lower price, the demand for them in our country is higher.

The American continent has its own layouts. The United States simultaneously produces and consumes the largest number of Christmas trees - for example, Noble Mountain Tree Farm grows Abies Procera, Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), and Scotch pine (Pinus sylvestris) on nearly 2,000 hectares. Once cleared, workers lift trees by helicopter, load them into trucks or refrigerated containers, and send them to different parts of the United States, as well as Central America and even Southeast Asia, such as Doha, Singapore and Ho Chi Minh City.

Chinese competitors

The theme of Christmas trees has spawned a trade war between the United States and China in recent years. Of course, the PRC does not grow spruce and does not celebrate Christmas and, moreover, the Chinese New Year is symbolized by animals and its dominant color is red, not green. However, this does not prevent China from producing and exporting plastic Christmas trees and all related attributes, being the largest producer in the world.

As soon as this trade competition arose, Washington imposed a 10 percent surcharge on imports of Christmas decorations, but this did not apply to PVC or polyurethane trees.

The production of plastic needles and other parts is located 300 kilometers southwest of Shanghai, in the city of Yiwu. It is home to nearly 1,000 Christmas merchandise firms and accounts for 60% of the world's production of plastic trees, Christmas lights, gilded stars and other decorations. In the United States, sales of artificial Christmas trees are growing steadily.

Natural versus artificial

Which tree is more environmentally friendly - natural and artificial? At first glance, a real tree seems to be the best option: cutting spruce, pine and fir on plantations stimulates the planting and growth of new trees, while the synthetic alternative is harmful emissions from oil and PVC production, which also requires large amounts of energy. However, experts note: the advantage of an artificial Christmas tree is the years of its use, in addition, the transportation of natural felled trees also produces harmful emissions.

- The longer you store your plastic tree, the less it matters that it was made in China or that you bought it many miles from your home. However, the further your natural Christmas tree travels, the worse its carbon budget will be. This environmental competition also depends on other factors such as final processing (landfill or recycling) and non-CO2 environmental damage (notably pesticide and biodiversity impacts). So to answer unequivocally the question "What is more environmentally friendly?" not as easy as it seems, experts say.

Read in continuation of the topic about what is really behind the production of Christmas toys.