Others come from places like Michigan and Pennsylvania-and all of them make a long (and sometimes hair-raising) journey from seedling to seasonal decoration. The majority of trees-79 percent of the annual harvest-hail from Oregon and North Carolina. Christmas trees are grown on about 15,000 farms in the United States, estimates Doug Hundley, a spokesperson for the National Christmas Tree Association, and last year consumers bought about 32 million of them. The answer is surprisingly complicated, but let’s start at the very beginning.
But just how much of a toll does this holiday habit take on the environment? For many revelers, Christmas just wouldn’t be Christmas without a live tree.
The holidays have a big environmental footprint.
