When I saw that towering, majestic Canary Island Pine tree on the cover of the Peninsula Beacon last week, it was with great sadness that I realized Ocean Beach still uses a real Christmas tree on the sand. Is it worth sacrificing the life of such a venerable work of nature, when it will be tossed into a dumpster a few days later? In an era when we are becoming more conscious of our planet’s needs — which ultimately are our own —- we can use and re-use an artificial tree.