Real Christmas trees making a comeback in metro Atlanta homes this season

ATLANTA - It's one of the busiest weekends for Christmas tree lots all across metro Atlanta. While some people get a real tree every year, others are just now making the switch from artificial.

"I think the smell is the biggest thing that you can definitely kind of appreciate at home," Aaron Harris said

Harris and his family came out to Big John's Christmas Trees in Midtown to pick out their first real Christmas tree in five years.

"It's a different feeling, a different vibe, I think, when you have a real tree in the house," he said.

They're one of many who have made shopping for Christmas trees a holiday staple.

Staff members say so far, sales have been slightly higher than last year.

"Today will be big, tomorrow will be bigger, and we still have more trees coming," Clee Atkinson, a manager at Big John's Christmas Trees, told FOX 5 Atlanta.

But many still choose artificial trees to re-use year after year. According to the American Christmas Tree Association, just under 80% of people putting up trees this year will have an artificial one and just over 20% will have a real one.

Experts say there are big differences between the two when it comes to their impact on the environment.

"To manufacture one artificial Christmas tree, 88 pounds of carbon dioxide are put out into the environment, so it's really so much better for our environment if we use live Christmas trees," Wendy Burnett with the Georgia Forestry Commission said.

But for many here, it's all about the energy of real trees and the tradition that keeps them coming back.

"Just a different feeling and kind of like a warmth to a real tree that you can't find in an artificial tree," Harris said.

"We've been here since 1980 at this lot, and I'm selling to grandchildren now to people I sold to back in the 80s," Atkinson added.