By Kerry Trueman

With Christmas just a month away, parents are avoiding the Made in China label not only for the toys they’re buying their kids, but for the Christmas trees those gifts will be tucked under. North America’s small Christmas tree farmers are hoping for a big boost in sales thanks to a renewed interest in trees that aren’t manufactured from plastic half a world away.

China produces 85% of the world’s fake Christmas trees, most of which are made out of PVC, aka polyvinyl chloride. Some fake trees have been found to shed lead dust, too, according to the Maine Christmas Tree Association, which notes that the “average family uses an artificial, non-biodegradable tree for only six to nine years before throwing it away.”

I wonder, do those discarded trees ever find themselves reunited with some of the flimsy, schlocky stuff that once sat under them in happier days? Kind of a modern day version of Rudolph’s Island of Misfit Toys: The Landfill of Cast-Off Crap.