Recycle Trees?

Found this editorial in the Seattle Times today..

Help me with this?

Trees are grown, to be cut down, to be brough into the house, to have gifts put under, to then be taking outside and chipped?

Help me please to understand this?

A Noble cause ?

Nationwide, 35 million real Christmas trees are headed this week to their final resting places.
New Year's has always been marked by a vista of trees biodegrading in backyards, withering by the side of roads or resting atop garbage piles in local landfills. A fourth and better option is recycling the trees. It saves valuable landfill space. Recycled trees can be mulched into a natural fertilizer or used for coastal marine projects.

A recycled tree helps stave off global warming by reducing methane, a greenhouse gas created by landfills.

It is an interesting tradition, this growing trees on large farms for the sole purpose of cutting them down to grace glittering holiday windows. Some would argue that this is no different from raising roses for bouquets. But it isn't what we choose to value so much as how we dispose of it once the value is gone.

Thick with gifts, the holidays behind us, a final gift of the season could be the most practical and environmentally sound one.

Washington and Oregon are among the five top state producers of trees. More than 90 percent of the Christmas trees purchased by Californians hail from the two states.

Local chapters of the Boy Scouts of America and other community organizations pick up and recycle trees for minimal or no fees. A listings of places to recycle Christmas trees can be found at Earth911.org.

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