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Comment by maxrf | Hacker News Reader

Merry Solstice Substitute! HN. I wasn't brought up Christian either, but loved the tradition with friends - and giving gifts under the mid-winter evergreen tree. Wishing everyone good things in 2023.

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Happy Soltice to you, too. I cringe that we have to end a tree's life so that we may maintain some tradition. Having said that, our kitten loves hanging out under the tree and smelling its pine needles. Still, I can't get over the fact that we end a tree's life for no reason at all (not that we need it to build shelter or something for our survival)

I don’t know a single person who still used a real tree. The artificial ones look incredible these days and are infinitely more sustainable, less messy, look better longer, and can be chosen to suit the room perfectly. If you’re a nerd like me you can even embed them with WS2812 RGBs and an ESP32 WLED controller, which would be way too much effort for a temporary “real” tree.

I don’t believe a Christmas tree made from fossil fuels is more sustainable than my certified organic Christmas tree grown less than 5 km from my home.

That being said I know most trees are sprayed regularly, then wrapped in plastic netting and transported long distances to a Christmas market.

that made me wonder about lifetime cost - I've just donated my wood, wire & ff-plastic tree of 20 years to another home, I don't have an answer tho' ...

The real trees everyone I know uses come from Christmas tree farms grown specifically for this purpose. They wouldn’t exist otherwise.

Happy solstice to you as well. My mother thought the same and got an evergreen in a pot which we decorated for many years until it became too big and was planted in front of the kitchen window.

It’s a good approach to carbon capture :) grow and pile it up!

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