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Kirkville Tree Farm is Making the World Greener Kirkville tree farm is making the world greener

Cutting down trees for Christmas is beneficial to the environment

By Alexander Peebles

Alex Peebles:
When you hear the sound of heavy machinery, you don’t typically think, environmentally friendly. But in this case the machinery is being used to harvest trees for Christmas. At Chuck Hafner’s Christmas Tree Farm there are about 20,000 trees and after being cut down a new cycle begins.

Marcus Todd:
For every tree that we cut down, it may not be in the same field, but on our property we plant that tree as a seedling form for the next year.

Peebles:
These trees typically grow one foot every year and are generally harvested when they are around 7 or 10 feet tall. Creating natural habitats for animals for years while they grow.

Todd:
From anything as small as mice and birds to deer rabbits squirrels. Pretty much anything you can think of they create a habitat for.

Peebles:
At this Christmas tree farm alone thousands of new natural habitats are created every year.

Peebles:
And at Chuck Hafners Christmas Tree Farm, they say, they plant 5 to 7-thousand new trees every year.

Peebles:
Forestry program specialist at Cornell Cooperative Extension, Kristina Ferrare says that real Christmas trees also play a role in New York States Agricultural industry.

Kristina Ferrare:
When harvesting a real tree you’re purchasing an agricultural product.

Peebles:
Ferrare understands while an artificial Christmas may be beneficial in some ways, when its all said and done there is one place all artificial trees end up.

Ferrare:
You certainly can’t recycle that artificial Christmas tree, you can’t out it out for birds and animals to use it just only hands one destination, and that’s the landfill.

KIRKVILLE, N.Y. (NCC News) – A 2010 study done by PE International found that an artificial tree only needs to be used for 3.6 to 4 years before there was a benefit regarding global warming contribution. But those who think purchasing a fake tree is better for the environment compared to cutting down a real tree may be in for a surprise.

Since 2004 artificial tree sales have more than doubled, according to a study done by the National Christmas Tree Association. The study showed in 2004, nine million artificial trees were sold and those sales grew to about 21 million fake trees sold in 2017.

There are several reason some would make the switch from real to fake, including:

  • Allergies
  • Fire safety
  • Budget
  • Convenience
  • Environmentally friendly?

Kristina Ferrare, the Forestry Program Specialist at Cornell Cooperative Extension in Onondaga County, believes that hands down chopping down real trees for Christmas is more environmentally beneficial than purchasing fake trees.

“You certainly can’t recycle that artificial Christmas tree, you can’t put it out for birds and animals to use,” Ferrare said. “It just only has one destination, and that’s the landfill.”

Marcus Todd said on top of being biodegradable real trees provide homes for countless animals.

“From anything as small as mice and birds to deer rabbits squirrels,” said Todd, operations manager at Chuck Hafner’s Cut Your Own Christmas Tree Farm. “Pretty much anything you can think of, they create a habitat for.”

Todd also said Christmas tree harvesting is a continuous cycle.

“For every tree that we cut down, it may not be in the same field, but on our property we plant that tree as a seedling form for the next year,” Todd said.

 

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