The real trees everyone I know uses come from Christmas tree farms grown specifically for this purpose. They wouldn’t exist otherwise.

I don’t know a single person who still used a real tree. The artificial ones look incredible these days and are infinitely more sustainable, less messy, look better longer, and can be chosen to suit the room perfectly. If you’re a nerd like me you can even embed them with WS2812 RGBs and an ESP32 WLED controller, which would be way too much effort for a temporary “real” tree.

I don’t believe a Christmas tree made from fossil fuels is more sustainable than my certified organic Christmas tree grown less than 5 km from my home.

That being said I know most trees are sprayed regularly, then wrapped in plastic netting and transported long distances to a Christmas market.

that made me wonder about lifetime cost - I've just donated my wood, wire & ff-plastic tree of 20 years to another home, I don't have an answer tho' ...

Happy solstice to you as well. My mother thought the same and got an evergreen in a pot which we decorated for many years until it became too big and was planted in front of the kitchen window.

It’s a good approach to carbon capture :) grow and pile it up!