Americans prefer artificial trees to real ones

Far more Canadians, Americans and Britons will celebrate Christmas with artificial Christmas trees in their houses than real ones, according to a survey released on Friday.

Sixty-two percent of Britons, 58 percent of Canadians and 53 percent of Americans use artificial trees, while only about 16 percent of Americans and Canadians and 14 percent of Britons use fresh trees, according to poll done by Angus Reid Public Opinion.

Nearly a third of the people surveyed in each country said they did not plan to have a tree at all, the survey found.

Most artificial tree users cited convenience as their motivation, and a third felt it was better for the environment, according to the polling firm.

Tradition was the main motivation for users of real trees, and more than a quarter of fresh-tree buyers felt their decision was the better environmental choice.

I'm surprised that fire hazard of real trees was not given as a reason for preferring artificial ones. Growing up, we had two trees; an artificial one in the living room and a real one in the basement. We didn't put any lights on the real one because my dad was worried about a short.

Of course, keeping the tree well watered helps but after 10 days or so, even water in the base doesn't matter as the tree dries out. The fire hazard is real as the National Fire Protection Association points out:

Between 2003-2008, U.S. fire departments responded to an average of 260 home fires that started with Christmas trees each year, according to the NFPA. Fires involving Christmas trees caused an average of 14 deaths, 26 injuries, and $13.8 million in direct property damage annually with one of every 21 fires resulting in death.

According to the NFPA, one-third of home Christmas tree fires are caused by electrical problems and a heat source too close to the tree causes one in every five fires.

The choice of real vs. artificial breaks down in an interesting way politically:

"In the United States, 20 percent of Republicans favor an authentic tree, while only 15 percent of Democrats concur. In Canada, a quarter of respondents who voted for the Green Party in the last federal election (24 percent) choose a real tree, while 63 percent of Conservative Party voters go for the imitation tree. In Britain, only 11 percent of Labour Party voters choose a real tree - compared to 18 percent of Conservatives and 15 percent of Liberal Democrats," the statement said.