Mike's top five

Gleaned from christmastree.org

• Fake trees..Most artificial Christmas trees are made of metals and plastics. The plastic material, typically PVC, can be a potential source of hazardous lead (The potential for lead poisoning is great enough that fake trees made in China are required by California law to have a warning label.)
• Some fake trees have a wooden center pole. In 2004, the U.S. Department of Agriculture placed a quarantine on fake trees, which had a potentially harmful beetle in the center pole.
• The fake tree was invented by a company who makes toilet bowl brushes, the Addis Brush Company. Regardless of how far the technology has come, it's still interesting to know the first fake Christmas trees were really just big green toilet bowl brushes.
• Overloaded electrical outlets and faulty wires are the most common causes of holiday fires in residences - these are just as likely to affect artificial trees as Real Trees.

• There are close to 350 million Real Christmas Trees currently growing on Christmas Tree farms in the U.S. alone, all planted by farmers. Most real Christmas trees are grown on farms.
• Real Trees are a renewable, recyclable resource. Artificial trees contain non-biodegradable plastics and metal toxins.
• For every Real Christmas Tree harvested, 1 to 3 seedlings are planted the following spring.
• It can take as many as 15 years to grow a tree of typical height (6 - 7 feet) or as little as 4 years, but the average growing time is 7 years.
• The top Christmas Tree producing state is Oregon.
• The most common Christmas Tree species are: balsam fir, Douglas-fir and Scotch pine.