A Tradition to Change: the Christmas Tree
Each year many families participate into the agiotage around the purchase, delivery and an installation of the Christmas tree. This is an international tradition, which exists for ages. The Christmas tree is represented as a symbol of the holiday, cheerful mood, amusement and a final destination for the Santa Claus’s presents. To achieve this atmosphere, many people strive to by a real pine or fir, get permission to cut it themselves or obtain the tree illegally. Smaller part of the population prefers to decorate fake trees. This essay will address two aspects: a refusal of the real fir-trees because of the financial and environmental stress they create; and a perspective of additional abandoning of
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In 2016 an average formerly alive Christmas tree cost 74.7 U. S. dollars, and a synthetic one – around 98.7 U. S. dollars (“Average amount spent on Christmas trees”). This sum does not look too big in relation to general holiday expenses, but it still can hurt budgets of families with the low or medium income. There is also an ecological issue. It persists even in the light of the fact the most contents of the Christmas Tree Bazaars are grown specifically for sale (Penn State News). This situation does not eliminate the problem of the illegal cutting. People can inflict damage on woods during their hunt for an ideal tree like hurting the environment with their cars. But this is a minor issue in the light of the utilization problem. Americans bought around 27.4 million of real Christmas trees in 2016 (“Christmas trees sold”), and there are no doubts the last year had similar numbers. And all these trees were utilized after the holiday season. Not all buyers have personal fireplaces or an access to the area, where they would be able to light a fire. It means the issue of the utilization of Christmas trees creates an additional load on the utility facilities. There are not too many ways to get rid of an unwanted wood – furnace looks like a common destination point for a former holiday fir. As the burning of an untreated organic fuel leads to additional carbon emissions, it is better to think
The Christmas tree is an important symbol because it represents Nora’s life. The beginning of Act 2 states that the tree was tattered and stripped of ornaments, just like Nora’s life was falling apart.
... Religious Customs, History, Legends, and Symbols from around the World; Supplemented by a Bibliography and Lists of Christmas Web Sites and Associations. Detroit, Mich: Omnigraphics, 2003. Print.
“In addition to being places of magnificent beauty, the old growth forests of the world represent hundreds of years of life on this planet, and many of the trees are the tallest living things on the planet (Old Growth Forests, 2004).” Because of their size, these trees, and the forests they reside in, are targeted by logging companies such as Weyerhaeuser as highly profitable areas that provide supposed economical benefits to surrounding communities in the way of new jobs.
The average American spends $92.93 on Christmas trees and decorations. Those with artificial trees invest in the tree initially, but only have to maintain the lights and ornaments after the holiday concludes. As well as, those with allergies will not have any reaction. Whereas; those with real trees have a mess from the fallen needles and will need to dispose of the tree soon after Christmas. Therefore, people with real trees will have to invest each year they use a real tree instead of an artificial one. In 2002, Oregon and Michigan have the highest number of acreages for planting Christmas trees. Both states contribute to more than sixty thousand acres of land for the trees to grow and be sold. In the United States, 38.4 million trees were sold in 2015. Out of those, 12.5 million were fake trees and 25.9 million were real. This reveals that Americans prefer real trees to artificial ones. The average price of a fake tree is $70 and the average price of a real tree is $50. In 2015, Americans spent $2.17 billion dollars on Christmas trees and decorations.
Green knew to confront this concern in his talk, he does so by discussing the reliability of the mass timber panels used in these buildings. As it’s hard to light a log on fire with one match, it’s equally as hard to light these specific panels on fire. Even so, if the panels do go up in flames Green reassures the audience that they burn quite predictably. Fire safety signs would be relatively easy to make to ensure these buildings are as safe as those made of concrete and steel. Green continues to prove his credibility when he confronts the issues of deforestation. According to his statistics eighteen percent of greenhouse gas emissions are a result of deforestation, luckily engineers have made models for sustainable forestry. These allow architects and engineers to recognize those trees appropriate for the buildings and how to properly cut them down. He introduces the fact that every thirteen minutes the U.S grows enough trees to make a twenty story building, which will sequester 3,100 tons of carbon dioxide. As opposed to steel and concrete buildings which emit 1,200 tons of carbon dioxide, this statistic proves the net difference of 4,300 tons. Green puts this in perspective when he states that it’s equal to removing nine hundred cars from the road in a year time
Christmas is a special time of year that deserves to be remembered for its true meaning. Every year, Christmas becomes more and more commercialized and society forgets the origin of Christmas. It was not started with cookies, toys, and a fat man that delivers them, but instead it started with a humble inn where our Savior was born. The definition of Christmas is “a holiday on December 25 celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ.” Nowhere in that definition does it say anything about the outrageous pressure society has set on consumers to buy, buy, buy during the Christmas season. Christmas is about presence not presents.
Today it seems as though Christmas has fallen victim to materialism and commercialization. Rather than it being a time of loving and giving, it has become a stressful season of greed. Amidst all the hustle and bustle, it is important for us to recognize the true reason of the season, and celebrate in a fashion that exemplifies that reason.
The play opens up with the Christmas tree being symbolic. The tree symbolizes Nora’s position in the Helmer household. The tree can also symbolize Nora’s personality. In the play the Christmas tree is a materialistic object used only for
A Christmas tree itself is a symbol of joy, so that is why it is used. Through all times and even in the Bible trees and flowers have been a subject of wonderment; a symbol of life, that is why Ibsen uses this as a symbol of Nora’s feelings. The play, “A Doll’s House” has a very symbolic title.... ... middle of paper ... ...
II.Audience connection/credibility: It is very important for us to understand that trees do so much for our environment and we need to stop destroying the trees because trees provide a home for many creatures, they are the lungs of our world. Trees have medicinal benefits, that are very useful to the human race. Trees are very beneficial to the world and it is unethical to keep destroying the trees.
Timber and especially hardwoods like mahogany and ebony are being felled at an alarming rate to satisfy the needs of the swiftly developing world. Another problem for the forest areas of the world is the type of agriculture used by some peasant farmers known as "slash & burn". This method of farming involves the burning of trees to add to the initial supply of nutrients in the soil. Over time this supply slowly wares down and so the farmer once again moves onto another plot of trees to slash and burn.
Christmas decorations should create a feeling of magic. The desire to create a magic home and bringing the spirit of Christmas can seem heavy these days. It becomes heavy and hard to carry, that parents now feel over the need to make
Christmas as a whole has changed throughout the decades, in more ways than one. Christmas has changed with traditions, how people view the holiday, and how people choose to celebrate it. The first noticeable difference is how the presents are handled. Back in the early 1900s, kids were lucky to get a few presents, and usually, they were very similar to each other.
Planting and protecting the trees is a popular attempt, and it looks great on paper, this solution works well and is beneficial for the people as well as the environment.