Editor’s note: “Behind the News” is the product of Sun staff assisted by the Sun’s AI lab, which includes a variety of tools such as Anthropic’s Claude, Perplexity AI, Google Gemini and ChatGPT. For ...

Each year, Americans buy between 25 million and 30 million real Christmas trees and 10 million fake ones. And each year, a question as traditional as O Tannenbaum itself swirls around sustainability ...

Curtis VanderSchaaf is an assistant professor of forestry at Mississippi State University. Every year, Americans buy somewhere between 35 million and 50 million Christmas trees, and many more pull an ...

Peter Maxwell is your community reporter for Warren, Center Line, Fraser, Roseville, Eastpointe, St. Clair Shores, and the Grosse Pointes. Connect with him at Peter ...

Every year, families across the country make plans for the upcoming holidays. Whose house are you going to? Are you serving a Christmas ham or prime rib? (In this economy, ham it is.) And the biggest ...

The debate rears its head every holiday season: Should I get a real tree or an artificial one? Which one is better for the environment? Artificial trees have been growing in popularity in recent years ...

Purchasing a real Christmas tree supports American farmers and their local economies. Buying a real tree can help support communities, such as those in North Carolina recovering from natural disasters ...

Paying for gifts, decorations and gingerbread houses can become quite expensive, so the U.S. Department of the Interior is hoping to ease some financial burden by making Christmas trees more ...

We independently review everything we recommend. When you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. Learn more› By Katie Okamoto Katie Okamoto is an editor focusing on sustainability. She’s ...

We independently review everything we recommend. When you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. Learn more› By Ben Frumin Ben Frumin is Wirecutter’s editor-in-chief. He leads a team of more ...

For many families, choosing a real Christmas tree marks the official start of the holiday season. The scent, the visit to the local farm, watching dad wrestle a half-rusted saw through the branches ...