Answer

Most fake plants are made from plastics — petroleum products. Even silk flowers have some plastic parts. The refining of petroleum and the making of plastics increases our carbon footprint — they contribute to global warming.

[Americans are] borrowing money from China to buy oil from the Persian Gulf to burn it in ways that destroy the planet. Every bit of that has to change.

— Al Gore

Plastics also offgas, which can lead to respiratory problems. Some plastics contain endocrine disruptors.

Plastic seems to outnumber plankton in the North Atlantic, which suggests if your fish at dinner “tastes like plastic,” that’s because plastic was the only food it could find.

Overall, fake plants are not good for the planet and our future. Live plants take pollutants from the air. They provide psychological benefits that fake flowers cannot.

Stephen Kellert, a professor at the Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, looked at a great deal of research before concluding that

plastic trees, stuffed animals, and their fabricated kin seem but a meager substitute more likely to result in a stunted capacity for symbolic expression, metaphor, and communication.

It would seem that artificial plants are a great idea if you don’t mind mental and emotional stunting, and aren’t terribly interested about the future of life on Earth.