今年你可能很難找到一棵真正的圣誕樹

今年你可能很難找到一棵真正的圣誕樹

If you're hunting for the perfect Christmas tree this year, you might have a hard time finding it. Demand for real Christmas trees is at an all-time high, with tree yards selling out much earlier in the season than ever before.

如果你今年正在尋找一棵完美的圣誕樹，你可能很難找到它。對真正的圣誕樹的需求正處于歷史最高水平，圣誕樹場在這個季節(jié)比以往任何時候都更早地售罄。

As with so many things this year, COVID-19 is partly to blame. More people are staying home for the holidays, making it easier to care for a live tree. After months of lockdown, people are craving signs of life and nature, and a real tree provides that. Linda Pieper, manager of a nursery near Calgary, told CBC, "[A real tree] is like gardening, it just makes you feel good." It could be due to the phenols and terpenes released in a fresh fir tree's aroma, which boosts dopamine levels in the brain and makes us happier.

就像今年發(fā)生的許多事情一樣，COVID-19要承擔部分責任。越來越多的人在家里過假期，這樣照顧一棵活的樹就更容易了。經過幾個月的禁閉，人們渴望生命和自然的跡象，而一棵真正的樹提供了這一點。Linda Pieper是卡爾加里附近一家苗圃的經理，她告訴CBC，“(一棵真正的樹)就像園藝一樣，它讓你感覺很好。”這可能是由于新鮮的冷杉樹的香氣中釋放的酚類和萜類物質提高了大腦中的多巴胺水平，讓我們更快樂。

Father and son drag home a Christmas tree.Sol Stock / Getty Images

Many families are eager to create fun and festive traditions for their kids in order to make this particular holiday season seem less bleak, and it's hard to think of anything more Christmassy than heading to a tree farm to cut your own and haul it home. Many farms offer additional outdoor activities that appeal to families following social distancing protocols, such as campfires and wagon rides and hot apple cider.

為了讓這個特別的節(jié)日看起來不那么凄涼，許多家庭都渴望為他們的孩子們創(chuàng)造有趣的節(jié)日傳統，而且很難想象有什么比自己去種樹場砍樹然后拖回家更有圣誕氣息的了。許多農場提供額外的戶外活動來吸引那些遵守社交距離協議的家庭，比如營火、乘馬車和熱蘋果酒。

It's been predicted that, with demand so high, Christmas trees could be the next item to suffer from pandemic-related shortages. One might argue that it's a good sign we've moved on from essentials like toilet paper and all-purpose flour to decorative elements like Christmas trees, but it's still a frustrating situation for people who'd counted on getting a real tree.

據預測，由于需求如此之高，圣誕樹可能會成為下一個因大流行而出現短缺的商品。有人可能會說，這是一個好跡象，我們已經從衛(wèi)生紙和通用面粉這樣的必需品轉向了圣誕樹這樣的裝飾元素，但對于那些指望得到一棵真正的圣誕樹的人來說，這仍然是個令人沮喪的情況。

Treehugger reached out to Middlebrook Farm in Saugeen Shores, Ontario, which sells both pre-cut and cut-your-own Christmas trees. The farm opened a week earlier than usual this year because it received so many messages from customers wanting trees early. On November 23 a spokesperson for the farm said, "We sold a lot this past weekend, so we are already ahead in sales. If it keeps up, we will sell a lot more than normal, I would predict."

Treehugger走訪了位于安大略省索根海岸的米德布魯克農場，這家農場既出售預砍過的圣誕樹，也出售自己親手砍下的圣誕樹。今年，這家農場比往年提前一周開放，因為它收到了很多客戶要求提前植樹的信息。11月23日，該農場的一名發(fā)言人表示:“上周末我們賣出了很多，所以我們的銷售額已經領先。我預計，如果這種情況持續(xù)下去，我們的銷量將遠遠超過正常水平。”

As someone who grew up in northern Ontario, Canada, and always cut down a spindly Charlie Brown-ish fir from deep in the forest, I must admit a slight aversion to the pre-wrapped Christmas trees that are already propped up in vacant lots around town. In my opinion it's far too early in the season to buy a real tree; it will lose many of its needles long before Christmas comes and hardly look fresh (though it is recommended to store it outside for a while yet). Plus, a regular-sized Christmas tree occupies too much space in my cozy living room.

作為一個在加拿大安大略省北部長大的人，我總是從森林深處砍下一棵細長的查理布朗式的冷杉，我必須承認我對那些已經擺在城鎮(zhèn)周圍空地上的預先包裝好的圣誕樹有點反感。在我看來，現在買一棵真正的圣誕樹還為時過早;在圣誕節(jié)到來之前，它的許多葉子就會掉落，看起來也不那么新鮮了(盡管建議把樹放在外面存放一段時間)。另外，一棵普通大小的圣誕樹在我舒適的客廳里占據了太多空間。

I'll be going a different route this year, opting for a small potted tree that can be replanted outdoors come spring. This conveniently bypasses the ethical issue of cutting down a perfectly healthy tree for temporary decoration and the environmental catastrophe that is plastic trees. The only problem is, these are surprisingly hard to find! Nobody seems to sell living trees in my area, so I might have to head out into the bush again – this time carrying a shovel, instead of a saw.

今年我打算走一條不同的路，選擇一棵小小的盆栽樹，春天到來時可以在戶外重新種植。這很方便地繞過了砍伐一棵健康的樹做臨時裝飾和塑料樹造成的環(huán)境災難的倫理問題。唯一的問題是，這些非常難找!在我住的地方似乎沒有人賣活樹，所以我可能不得不再次走進叢林——這次我拿了一把鏟子，而不是鋸子。

While some are saddened by the thought of any tree being cut down, I think it's good news in general that people are eager to put real trees in their homes this year. There have been enough climate savings made inadvertently throughout the lockdowns of 2020 – think of all the places we haven't gone and things we haven't done – that I don't think it hurts to bring a piece of nature into our homes to gain some peace of mind. If it brings families together, supports local tree farmers, and creates beauty without generating more unnecessary plastic waste, I'm all for it.

雖然有些人對任何一棵樹被砍伐的想法感到悲哀，但我認為總的來說這是一個好消息，人們渴望在今年把真正的樹放在他們的家里。在2020年的封鎖期間，我們無意中節(jié)省了足夠多的氣候開支——想想那些我們沒有去過的地方和我們沒有做過的事情——因此，我不認為把大自然的一部分帶回家來獲得心靈的平靜會有什么壞處。如果它能讓家庭團結起來，支持當地的種樹農民，在不產生更多不必要的塑料垃圾的情況下創(chuàng)造美麗，我完全支持它。