Are plastic Christmas trees the better choice for the environment?

For an artificial Christmas tree to be more sustainable than its natural counterpart, it needs to be used for a long time. Photo: Rolf Vennenbernd/dpa

The idea is a good one, in theory: You buy one plastic Christmas tree for life, and never again will an evergreen be chopped down in your name.

And yet plastic trees – especially in the low-price segment – only have a lifespan of a few years before they start to look old and are thrown away.