This year\u2019s Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree is a Norway Spruce from Easton CT.\u00a0 It stands 76 feet tall and weighs 10 tons.\u00a0 That\u2019s big, and it\u2019s certainly beautiful.\u00a0 But some of you may be asking:\u00a0 how much environmental benefit was lost in bringing THAT thing to Manhattan?<\/p>\n
Funny you should ask.\u00a0 It is estimated that an average-sized mature tree can absorb 13 lbs of carbon annually, and an acre of trees absorbs about 2.6 tons.\u00a0 That\u2019s interesting, because each person produces about 2.3 tons of carbon per year.\u00a0 So 1 person \u2248 1 acre of trees.\u00a0 Then, if you consider that the United States contains approximately 2.6 billion acres of land, you can see how much potential we have for absorbing carbon.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s take this for a holiday spin.\u00a0 If each family in the United States planted a live Christmas tree this year, the total yearly carbon output of the country would be immediately reduced by 5%.\u00a0 In addition, the Forest Service estimates that, over a 50-year life span, each one of those trees would produce $31,250 worth of oxygen, provide $62,000 worth of air pollution control, recycle $37,500 worth of water, and control $31,250 worth of soil erosion.\u00a0 The benefits are even better in urban locations.\u00a0 City trees that shade buildings and cut down on air conditioning are as environmentally beneficial as 15 trees planted away from buildings.<\/p>\n
With that in mind, should the Rockefeller Center folks consider bringing a live tree to Manhattan? \u00a0Only if they\u2019re willing to deal with a root ball some 40 feet across. \u00a0But for the rest of us, a live Christmas tree may be a good idea. \u00a0A little heavy to be sure, but entirely manageable.\u00a0 Just remember to keep it well-watered, and don\u2019t keep it too long in the heat of the house. \u00a0And, if you live in the north, you may want to go dig your planting hole now, before the ground freezes.<\/p>\n
Consider it a Christmas gift to the environment.\u00a0 Dig, baby, dig.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This year\u2019s Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree is a Norway Spruce from Easton CT.\u00a0 It stands 76 feet tall and weighs 10 tons.\u00a0 That\u2019s big, and it\u2019s certainly beautiful.\u00a0 But some of you may be asking:\u00a0 how much environmental benefit was lost in bringing THAT thing to Manhattan? Funny you should…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[252,399,499,751,1046],"class_list":["post-272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-4","tag-christmas-tree","tag-environment","tag-global-warming","tag-live-tree","tag-rockefeller-center"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quicksilverhg.com\/thequicksliver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quicksilverhg.com\/thequicksliver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quicksilverhg.com\/thequicksliver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quicksilverhg.com\/thequicksliver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quicksilverhg.com\/thequicksliver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=272"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quicksilverhg.com\/thequicksliver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quicksilverhg.com\/thequicksliver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quicksilverhg.com\/thequicksliver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quicksilverhg.com\/thequicksliver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}