What’s the Least Toxic, Chemical-Free Christmas Tree Option for Your Home?

Last year, for the first time, I cut down my own Christmas tree. I have nine acres behind my old Vermont farmhouse, and a large portion of that has douglas fir, red spruce, and eastern white pine. So one day when a friend was visiting, we walked out back and selected a small red spruce, cut it down with my electric chainsaw, carried it inside, and set it up in my living room. It was a minimalist tree, a bit Charlie Brown. And I loved it. (Wait, is that a spruce? Shoot, I can’t remember! It might be a douglas fir.)

Anyway, it was the most sustainable, organic, non-toxic and rewarding Christmas tree I had ever had. But of course, most people nowadays can’t cut down a Christmas tree from their own backyard. And as such, a debate has erupted about what’s the best choice of a holiday tree for those with chemical sensitivities, asthma, and chronic illness. A plastic tree that leaches endocrine disruptors? A real Christmas tree that has been sprayed with pesticides or whose piney scent triggers a reaction? Something else?

Let’s settle this debate once and for all. Or, for now. (Because I always like to come back and update these articles as new information arises!)

Plastic Christmas Trees and Endocrine Disruptors

The top choices on Amazon for fake Christmas trees are all involve polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Go and look! I was actually surprised they still all use PVC, as it is well known to be the most toxic type of plastic.

“Its use poses exposure risks for consumers, especially vulnerable populations like pregnant women and young children,” Michael Schade, director of consumer-focused campaigns at the U.S. nonprofit advocacy organization Toxic-Free Future, told me last year for a story for Mongabay. “It is often filled with a witch’s brew of toxic additives — everything from phthalates to flame retardants to organotins and Bisphenol A.”

Vinyl chloride is linked to an increased risk of liver, brain and lung cancers, plus lymphoma and leukemia. And while the vinyl industry in the U.S. has gotten better at reducing the amount of vinyl chloride that off-gases or leaches out of PVC, you don’t know where the PVC in your Amazon Christmas tree was made. If it’s made in China, all safety bets are off. And there’s simply no safe level of exposure to vinyl chloride.

Then there are the phthalates that are pretty much always in PVC. An estimated 90% of all phthalates are used to soften vinyl plastic, and one researcher told me that up to 40% of the weight of a plastic product can be phthalates, which can easily leach out. Phthalates are endocrine disruptors (hormone disrupting chemicals), and have been linked to genital birth defects, infertility, behavior problems in children and other reproductive and developmental harms.

Finally, there’s no way to safely and responsibly dispose of your plastic Christmas tree. PVC is not recyclable, and its additives can contaminate groundwater if it’s landfilled. If it’s incinerated, dioxins — super toxic chemicals — are created and emitted into the air.

Real Christmas Trees and Pesticides

A real Christmas tree can be composted or used to create habitats in lakes or in the woods.

In fact, Christmas tree farms can be a very sustainable use of land, better than mowing fallow fields for hay or growing conventional crops like corn and soy, and much better than a golf course! The trees grow for about ten years, providing habitat for migrating birds and allowing beneficial native plants like milkweed to thrive along the edges. One North Carolina farmer says he’s seen, “deer, rabbits, a pygmy owl, bears, coyotes and cougars, who follow elk that forage in his fields,” in the winter.

Unfortunately, buying a conventional Christmas tree can bring toxic chemicals into your home. Less than 1% of Christmas trees are grown organically without pesticides or herbicides.

That’s because many growers spray pesticides for weevils and other pests. The southern states seem to be worse in this regard, especially as the climate warms and brings more pest problems up further north. Apparently, it’s very difficult to have a large Christmas tree farm in the North Carolina mountains without spraying pesticides to kill bugs. According to the NC State extension, Christmas tree farms in Western North Carolina spray trees with bifenthrin or another pyrethroid pesticide in late September a month before harvest.

NC State says this product is based on the natural pesticide produced by chrysanthemum flowers, and is also used in products rated as safe for indoor and human use, including pet sprays, human lice treatments, and mosquito repellents. The EPA has declared it safe to use pyrethroids on vegetables or fruits the day before harvesting. So if you’ve eaten conventional cilantro recently, you’ve been exposed to more of it than you would from bringing a Christmas tree in your home. NC State compares exposure via a Christmas tree to having a non-organic cabbage.

But farms that are on the smaller side in the Northeast or Northwest seem to be able to manage okay without using pesticides and opting for integrative techniques instead. Elysian Fields, located within a half hour of my house in Vermont, became the first certified organic Christmas tree farm of its size in Vermont in 2017. Fortunately, overall, pesticide use is decreasing, by 21% from 2013 to 2018, and experts agree that by the time it reaches your home, there is minimal pesticide residue left on the tree.

Herbicides are also a concern — many Christmas tree farms use glyphosate to control weeds around the trees, especially when they are young. There are alternatives, such as letting sheep graze between the trees, putting down mulch or cover crops, or hand weeding or using machinery to cut down weeds. Or, using other herbicides, as the Michigan State University extension recommends. But by the time the tree is a few years old, herbicide control is no longer so necessary. Still, Beyond Pesticides warns that a tree can uptake glyphosate and release it in its sap and in the water put around the base, which can expose children or pets that might drink out of the basin.

So if you are concerned about pesticides and herbicides, you should try to find an organic and no-spray Christmas tree farm near you! Some farms require you to make a beautiful day trip to select it and enjoy some hot cocoa while you’re there. (Like apple picking, but make it Christmas!) Some will require you to pre-order your tree. Some bring trees to your city on a tree lot, and some sell online. Regardless, it’s going to be the coziest, most lovely Christmas tree experience you’ve had.

Alternative Christmas Trees for the Pine-Intolerant

I recently found out that a dear friend of mine is allergic to pine! If you’re so intolerant of scents that the pine-y smell of a tree can set you off, there are other alternatives, such as a wooden Christmas tree or driftwood Christmas tree. Those are good if you want a solid tree from which to hang ornaments.

Or you can craft one! My mother likes to cut a giant spiral out of paper and hang it from the ceiling, and there are always some ideas on Pinterest for crafting a paper Christmas tree.

Conclusion

If you’re comfortable with non-organic produce, then heading to the nearest tree lot for a real tree should be a great choice.

But if you’re an organic grocery or farmers market person, then it will pay off to seek out a Christmas tree from a no-spray or organic farm.

And if you’re allergic to pine or the scent of pine, consider buying a wooden tree, or crafting one from paper.