It is that time of year again when the conversation turns to "real or artificial" tree in the Carl household. I cringe at the idea of an artificial tree because growing up, my family always had an artificial tree, and of course the season was just as magical as we decorated it every year.

But I missed out on the excitement of going and picking out that perfect tree. I don't know what happened to that tree when I moved out of the house, but if I had to guess it probably ended up in a landfill where it will be buried for centuries along with all the dangerous chemicals it contained, including lead.I think what impacted me the most was reading a quote from Rick Dungey, Executive Director of the National Christmas Tree Association: "Eventually all artificial trees are going to end up in a landfill. They are always going to be an environmental burden."Even though I do feel a twinge of regret for a few moments when we cut down a tree every year, that little environmentalist's voice in the back of my head pops up assuring me that this is a renewable resource, it was grown for this purpose, I am supporting local farmers and even after it is cut down it will still continue to provide habitat for wildlife.After the holidays, our tree is taken outside and tucked into the woods on our property. There it will provided needed cover for wildlife and as it slowly breaks down it will add nutrients to the soil. That's definitely a win-win!A friend of mine was horrified that we would even consider going into the woods and cutting a living tree down!I tried to explain to her that there are tree farms where the trees are grown just for this purpose and we weren't going into the "woods" plundering and pillaging for our tree.In fact, did you know that there are approximately 350 million trees in the U.S. alone grown by farmers on 18,000 farms and employing 100,000 - 150,000 people?As for my friend's outrage over cutting down a living thing I explained to her that for every tree cut three seedlings are planted in the spring. That means that 73 million new trees will be planted every year. And as the newly planted seedlings mature for the next 15 years they will remove pollutants, absorbing more than 1 ton of carbon dioxide, along with dust and pollen.Although tree farms are much larger than 1 acre, just an acre of trees give off enough oxygen for the daily needs of 18 people. You would think that these facts would be enough but wait - there's more! These tree farms also help with erosion problems and provide habitat for wildlife.Disposal of our tree on our property to create habitat for wildlife is the final job of our tree but what can you do if you don't have property like we do? Putting it out on the curb for trash pickup means that your tree will be in a landfill for at least 30 years right along with my artificial tree. Some land management areas offer programs where trees are added to lakes for fish habitat. But do you have other options? Yes!Did you know that across the U.S. there are about 4,000 recycling programs set up to recycle trees? And, guess what? The Carbon County Environmental Education Center has such a program in place.After the holidays, you can drop off your tree after all decorations have been removed. Then your tree, along with hundreds of others, will be "chipped" into valuable mulch that is given back to the community for free. Is that cool or what?Please remember: Don't burn that tree in your wood stove or fireplace! The buildup of creosote from burning pine makes this a very dangerous thing to do!I have always been jealous of the Griswold family in the "National Lampoon's: A Christmas Vacation" movie because they had a squirrel hidden in the tree branches of their tree when they brought it home.The Carl family has never had any sort of stowaway critter come home with us to liven the holidays up. Oh well, there is always this year!Jeannie Carl is on staff at the Carbon County Environmental Center.