There are approximately 25 million to 30 million real Christmas trees sold in North America every year.

Approximately 330,000 real Christmas trees are sold via e-commerce or catalogue and shipped mail-order.

North American real Christmas trees are grown in all 50 states and Canada. Eighty percent of artificial trees are manufactured in China.

Real Christmas trees are a renewable, recyclable resource. Artificial trees contain non-biodegradable plastics.

For every real Christmas tree harvested, two to three seedlings are planted in its place the following spring.

There are about 1 million acres in production for growing Christmas trees. Each acre provides the daily oxygen requirements of 18 people.

There are about 15,000 Christmas tree growers in North America, and more than 100,000 people employed full- or part-time in the industry.

It can take as many as 15 years to grow a tree of average retail sale height (6 feet), but the average growing time is seven years.

The top Christmas tree producing states are Oregon, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Washington and Wisconsin.

The top selling Christmas trees are: balsam fir, Douglas fir, Fraser fir, noble fir, Scotch pine, Virginia pine and white pine.

In a national survey, 93 percent of consumers who used a real Christmas tree recycled theirs in some type of community program.Christmas trees are recycled for five main types of large-scale uses for post-harvest trees. These are:Making chips to be used for mulch, hiking trails and other thingsBeachfront erosion preventionLake and river shoreline stabilizationFish habitatRiver delta sedimentation managementApproximately 98 percent of real Christmas trees are grown on farms throughout all 50 states and Canada. A renewable, recyclable resource, real trees are planted for harvest in much the same manner as corn, pumpkins and other agricultural crops.Young trees in their rapid growth years have a high rate of photosynthesis and thus produce more oxygen than older trees.This year, more than 60 million new seedlings were planted by Christmas tree farmers all over North America.Source: National Christmas Tree Association. For more information, visit: www.realchristmastrees.org.