Real versus fake Christmas tree – which is better for the environment?

As families pick out wreaths and poinsettias, they’re also pondering the centerpiece of their Christmas decorating — the tree — and asking a simple, vaguely familiar question:
Natural or plastic?
If the question hinges on the tree’s environmental impact, the answer isn’t clear cut. Experts who study consumer product life cycles  — everything from manufacturing and delivery to disposal and decomposition — are split on which kind of Christmas tree lea