After the presents have been opened and the New Year toasted, it is time to decide what to do with our formerly fresh and vibrant Christmas trees. Balsam firs, Douglas firs, Scotch pines, and white pines are among the more than 25 million real Christmas trees purchased in the United State each year and each real tree is 100% biodegradable and recyclable.
Over the last twenty years, we have been taught to recycle our aluminum cans, plastics, newspaper, cardboard, glass, and even used motor oil and tires. Communities have built recycling centers with easy drop off and instituted curbside pickups to encourage us to help make our planet a better place by recycling our waste. Recycling your real Christmas tree is not only environmentally friendly but a great way to continuing the giving of the Holiday season.
How do we recycle our real Christmas trees?
Instead of simply carting the tree out to the trash for the garbage truck to haul away, take a few moments to explore the recycling possibilities available. Many communities and businesses run Christmas tree recycling programs during the weeks after Christmas day. Civic groups like the Lyons Club, Kiwanis, Boy Scouts, and 4-H as well as college or high school environmental groups offer places for used tree drop-off. Many groups will even offer pick-up from your home if help is needed. If you can load up your used tree on your own, businesses like nurseries, tree growers and landscaping companies often offer drop-off sites at their shops.
Where we can recycle our real Christmas tree?
With more than 4,000 Christmas tree recycling programs in the U.S. alone, the opportunity for your household to reduce landfill waste by recycling your used tree is abundant. During the Holiday season, community groups or businesses that offer tree recycling will list their services in the newspaper, at tree lots, on the radio, and even on your local television stations. A quick call to your local town hall will also provide you with tree recycling information.
To locate recycling programs in your area via the internet, visit the website Earth911.org. At this website, you can type in your zip code and they will list all the tree recycling programs in your immediate area. If there are not any organized Christmas tree recycling programs in your community, consider starting one yourself. A comprehensive, 31-page, downloadable how-to manual is available from the National Christmas Tree Association.
How are recycled Christmas trees used?
According to the National Christmas Tree Association, there are five primary types of uses for recycled Christmas trees. Each use reduces waste in our landfills and gives a second and sometime even third life to the tree.
1. Wood chips for mulching areas like playgrounds or hiking trails.
2. Prevention of beachfront erosion.
3. Stabilization of both lake and river shorelines.
4. Habitats for fish and other lake and river dwellers.
5. Sedimentation management of river-deltas.
Recycled Christmas trees have even been used as boiler fuel by the Packaging Corporation of America's pulp and paper mill plant in Wisconsin. Other states have used their recycled trees as natural structures in ponds and lakes to provide places for fish to hide and find food. In Cook County, Illinois, recycled trees are used as nesting materials for the herons and egrets that have been forced out of their habitat. Each year this particular project recycles 300 to 400 trees.
In Louisiana, almost 1.5 million trees have been recycled for a conservation project that includes creating fences that battle erosion and slow wave action in the coastal wetlands. Since its start in 1986, this project has created eight miles of fences and restored nearly 300 acres of marshland. Even the White House has donated trees to this project.
Organized recycling programs versus the landfill are not your only tree recycling options. If you own a wood burning fireplace or furnace, consider chopping your tree for firewood. Even if you don't own a wood chipper, your neighbor might share his. If a chipper is not readily available, call your local tree farm. They might chip your tree for a small fee or donation and then you will have fresh mulch to use for your own landscaping projects.
If you have the space on your property, consider placing your used tree in an area that would benefit small animals and birds as a place to hide and spend the remainder of the winter. When the weather warms, cut the tree into firewood and enjoy fires in a backyard or patio fire pit.
When recycling a Christmas tree, do not forget to remove all decorations. Real trees that have been decorated with tinsel or fake spray snow should not be recycled due to chemical contamination.
Christmas trees grown on a tree farm give our planet several vital gifts. They help stabilize soil, protect our water supplies and provide essential habitats for many different species of wildlife. By recycling real Christmas trees, we can continue the giving spirit of the Holidays by giving back to the planet and continuing the tree's circle of life.