Christmas Tree Growers Battle Against Popularity Of Plastic

By Lydia Mulvany and Megan DurisinBloomberg

Millennials have earned a reputation for loving consumer products that are local and artisanal. So why are they buying so many plastic Christmas trees?

That’s the question irking Tim O’Connor, the executive director of the Christmas Tree Promotion Board in Littleton, Colorado. To help capture more buyers, growers are positioning themselves as analogs to the local and organic food movement. Real trees have all the things younger adults are drawn to, he said, touting authenticity, benefits to the environment and support for regional economies.

They’ve got their work cut out for them. While almost 95 million U.S. households will display a Christmas tree this season, only 19 percent of those are expected to be real, according to a survey conducted by Nielsen for the American Christmas Tree Association released earlier this month. While some houses display both types of trees, most will be putting up artificial trees, usually made from plastic and sometimes coming from factories located across the globe.The tide could already be starting to change, according to George Richardson, the co-owner of Richardson Farms in Spring Grove, Illinois, who’s a fifth-generation farmer. He plants 10,000 seedlings a year on his operation, where buyers can choose and cut their own tree.

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