The trouble with driving while listening to the radio is that one only recalls the gist of a radio programme if one is, as one should, paying closer attention to the road and traffic. However, a radio interview with a retired forester made the case for cropping trees for timber compared to permanent forests as regards carbon sequestering. (I will get to my Xmas tree point in due course). In other words; grow/capture carbon, fell, process into timber and lock that carbon up in the construction of houses etc etc for many, many years.
So I’m going to offer two three thoughts re cut real Xmas trees:
a) they are no different to cut flowers actually and
b) they are increasingly re-cycled into mulches, which release their carbon back into the environment very slowly, and
c) they are not adding to the World's plastic-particles time-bomb !!!!!
The growing and recycling of real Xmas trees is not as good as the growing/processing of timber forests wrt to the carbon cycle, but heh !
Enjoy your metal-reinforced plastic trees if you really must, but I will not be following suit.