Source: Darryl Fears and Robert Samuels, The Washington Post

This Christmas, Vicki Freshley will proudly show off her prized fake fir. In her eyes, it’s a beautiful thing, as nice as any real Christmas tree — nine feet tall, emerald and fluffy, and decked out with so many eye-popping trimmings that her brother stopped in his tracks when he saw it and said, “Oh my God.” But in the eyes of many environmentalists, Freshley could have made a better choice than buying that artificial tree last year at a Costco near her home in Gaithersburg. Even tree huggers are encouraging Americans to go out every December and buy a real tree from a lot or go to a farm, cut one down, and drag it home because tree farms are good for the atmosphere.

Read Full Article: The ‘green’ debate on Christmas trees: Fresh vs. fake?