If you’ve been on the internet at all for the past few years, you’ve probably seen at least an article or two about how millennials are killing various industries.
This holiday season, survey results indicate that baby boomers are actually the ones threatening to kill the live Christmas tree industry, and that younger generations just might save it. Gen Z in particular seems poised to save real trees and have pine-smelling abodes this year.
According to a survey from the Real Christmas Tree Board, 20% of survey respondents overall are planning to buy a real Christmas tree for the first time this year. Gen Z was the most likely to buy one for the first time at 26% and nearly the same percentage of millennials (25%) expected to have real trees for the first time. Only 14% of Gen X said they would be first time real-tree buyers.
“Newbies will be in happy company,” said the Real Christmas Tree Board. “According to the survey, for the second year in a row, the majority of those who switched from artificial trees to real trees the prior year say they wish they’d done so sooner (84% this year, up from 78% in 2022).”
Trees.com also conducted a survey that found that 73% of Gen Z said they used a real tree in 2020, by far the largest percentage of generations included in the study. That same survey found that 64% of millennials used real trees, 61% of Gen X used them and just 47% of baby boomers did.
It seems that Gen Z is still buying real trees this year, even though trending videos on TikTok – an app popular with the generation – show “horror stories” about things found in them, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
“Some users on the video platform say the videos are dissuading them from getting a real tree,” said the outlet. “Others say the videos at least have them convinced to give their trees an extra thorough shake before setting them up inside.”
Overall, the American Christmas Tree Association’s estimates that approximately 23% of Americans said they plan to display a live Christmas tree this year.
Yet another study from B&Q, based in the U.K., found that younger generations are also fueling the popularity of real Christmas trees there. It said “almost a quarter of Gen Z (22%) [are] lured by the smell and excitement of choosing their own tree compared to their parent’s generation (14%).”
B&Q also offered some tips for households going for a real Christmas tree this year. These include: buying trees early, giving them a good shake to make sure things aren’t in them, keeping them in cool place until they are brought indoors, giving the tree water before setting it up, using a tree stand, keeping the tree away from heat sources.