With more and more Chicagoans taking the environmental impacts of their actions into account, many will try to decide which type of Christmas tree is truly the “greenest” option this holiday season.

The consensus among environmental groups is that buying a real Christmas tree is better for the environment than opting for an artificial tree, which are usually made out of PVC plastic and other non-biodegradable materials.

In 2001, about 21 percent of all U.S. households had a real Christmas tree while nearly 48 percent had an artificial tree, and 32 percent had no tree at all, according to the University of Illinois Extension, Department of Urban Horticulture and Environment. Of the 25 to 30 million real Christmas trees sold in the U.S. each year, 98 percent of Christmas trees come from tree farms or plantations rather than forests.

“Christmas trees are a crop, just like corn or beans or cotton-they are an agricultural product,” said Rick Dungey, spokesperson for the National Christmas Tree Association.

But real trees have their eco drawbacks, too. Like many farmers of any other crop, Christmas tree growers use chemical pesticides and fertilizers.

“You have to think about it from a business owner’s perspective,” Dungey said about the use of pesticides on Christmas tree farms.

“They are trying to find the most effective and economical way to protect their crop.”

Farmers aren’t out there spraying pesticides on their crops all “willy-nilly,” Dungey said, because first and foremost, pesticides are expensive and they use them only when necessary. When comparing the carbon footprints of real and fake Christmas trees, the natural option is the clear winner.

“There are close to a half-billion trees growing out on those farms in the United States alone,” Dungey said. “And those are trees that would not exist-would not exist-if the Christmas tree farms hadn’t planted them in the first place, and there is no question that half a billion trees absorb a lot of carbon dioxide.”

For those who choose to get a real tree this Christmas, the city has a special recycling program geared to reuse the city’s tens of thousands of trees instead of putting them into landfills. Recycled trees can be used to make sand and erosion barriers, placed into ponds to be used as fish shelters or made into mulch.

According to Trecycle, a nonprofit organization that works with the city to recycle the trees, about 12,000 trees were recycled last year at the city’s 23 drop sites. But more than 288,000 trees were still thrown into Chicago’s landfills, a number they hope to see decrease this year.

Another option for those looking to reduce their impact this Christmas, or for those looking for a more creative and space-saving option, is The Cardboard Christmas Tree by Cloud Gate Design, a company founded by locals Nick Ng and Dan Greene.

This artistically designed, minimalist tree, which sells for $22.95, stands at 3-feet high and is made from 70 percent recycled material and comes in a flat-packed box, which is also made from recycled cardboard. The trees are sold locally at the Museum of Contemporary Art store, 220 E. Chicago Ave., or they can be purchased online at TheCardboardTree.com.

“We wanted to do something based around sustainable design principles that also sort of crossed the boundary between eco-friendly products and modern art,” Ng said.

Ng and Greene are also donating 2.5 percent of all the proceeds to the Arbor Day Foundation, a group that plants trees throughout the country.

“It’s all part of that fact that we didn’t want to just put another product on the market,” Greene said. “We really wanted something that was as sustainable as possible.”

Ng and Greene think their product will appeal to urban dwellers, as well as environmentalists. The smaller size and ease of transport make it convenient for apartment and condo dwellers who may not want to haul a real tree in and out of their buildings, Greene said.

The main motivation behind designing their stylish-yet-affordable tree was the environment and the lack of sustainable, artificial tree options.

“The plastic alternatives end up in landfills and are made of PVC plastics, most times,” Greene said. “So we really just saw an opening and decided to come up with an alternative that is environmentally responsible-that might appeal to a lot of urban-dwellers and parents with small children.”

The drop-off period for the city’s tree recycling program will be Jan. 3-16 at various locations. For more information, residents can call 311 or visit Trecycle.org.