An excerpt from the new, revised 2005 edition of Home Safe Home...

CHRISTMAS TREES

The fresh fragrance of evergreen trees is, for me, one of the joys of the holiday season. But certain kinds of Christmas trees emit air pollutants that can be harmful even to those in good health.

Of the different varieties, pine is the most problematic. Pine contains resins and other aromatic chemicals that are natural insecticides and bactericides. In this case, however, "natural" does not mean safe. These same chemicals can also damage the respiratory tract, causing chronic respiratory disease, and asthma. So if anyone in your family has respiratory problems in the wintertime, it could be your Christmas tree.

SAFE SOLUTIONS

You could, obviously, use a fake tree, but there are other options.

Fir and spruce trees do not contain the same irritating chemicals as pine. While it was easy to find literature on the dangers of pine, I was able to find nothing on the health effects of exposure to fir or spruce. When I lived in California, I lived in a fir forest. The Miwok Indians who were native there would drink tea made from the fir needles. So I think a fir tree would be safe.

I also asked a manufacturer of natural air fresheners about the health effects of spruce and fir, as she has had a long-time dedication to safe ingredients. She makes a natural holiday air freshener that contains essential oils of these trees. She said she could not find any data that showed any negative effects of fir or spruce, and, in fact, they have a positive benefit of relieving stress and elevating emotions.

If someone in your home is particularly sensitive to evergreens of all kinds, decorate a cut tree outside and put it in a picture window. Then place your gifts "under" the tree by putting them under the window. That way you can see the tree, but don't have to smell it. If you use bird food (pine cones with peanut butter and millet branches) for ornaments, your tree will be decorated with birds. You could even plant a live tree in front of the window, so it would be there year after year.

And you could always find any green plant that you tolerate and decorate it with lights and Christmas ornaments. One year, when I was on a very tight budget, I decorated a branch that had fallen in a storm. Though evergreens have a tradition with being associated with the continuation of life through the long winter, really you can decorate anything--it's the spirit that counts!

An excerpt from Home Safe Home by Debra Lynn Dadd.