Out w/the old: Recycling Christmas Trees {Tips}

January

 ~ Week 1~  

of

::The Holiday Challenge::

Holiday Clean Up

This week as my children return to school I begin packing up Christmas. Many of you may start sooner, but we like to keep the holiday lights and the warmth of Christmas up for New Years. Last year I shared with you how I organize my Christmas boxes which you can see here: Boxing up Christmas (tips). 

This year I have some tips on recycling Christmas trees to share:

Recycling Artificial Christmas Trees: 

• Donate to local church/community organization
• Ask around to see if any friends or family members are interested in it, this can benefit low income loved ones greatly.
• Give away free through Craigslist or Freecycle.
• Re-use the branches to decorated doorways, mantles, and shelves next year.
• Make wreaths for your home or as gifts for others here is a wonderful tutorial on how to do that at  associatedcontent.com.
• If it is still in good shape give to a second hand shop or re-sell it.
• Finding an actual recycling program for artificial trees not very likely as recycling them tends to be cost prohibitive according to this article in the NY Times: A Fake vs. A Real Tree. If you know of a way to recycle these please feel free to leave a comment with details!

Recycling Real Christmas Trees:

• Mulch it: if you have a mulcher (or a neighbor with one) they make quick an easy fresh mulch with add nutrients to the soil.
• Bundle it: Once the needles are gone you can saw off the branches and make small fire starting bundles using cotton twine. You will need to let them dry 'till next winter so that you are not burning green wood and they don't cause an undo amount of creosote build up in your chimney.
• Let nature have it: If you have a very remote area or wooded part of your property you can take it out to decompose naturally which has wildlife benefits. Warning though, it takes several years for a tree to decompose fully. Or, if you own a body of water such as a pond, or have a river that runs through your property, trees sunk into them actually improve water quality and aid fish. Double check the yard waste guidelines and legalities in your area before doing this however.
• Make a bird feeder: You can stand the tree up outside and add a cranberry and orange slice garland to make a bird feeder for winter birds.
• Potpourri: pine needles, pine cones, dried flowers, and other dried bits mixed with essential oils will make a lovely potpourri, and the branches can be made into decorative stick balls. 
• Saw the trunk into thin rounds: coated with modgepodge these can be turned into anything from coasters to steppingstones, to clocks, even buttons if you punch holes in them.
• Twig crafts: Once the needles fall off you can make twig pumpkins, holiday baskets, and other fun twig and branch crafts (the first two links are to two of my posts, the second two links are to google image searches).  
• Or simply recycle it: As real Christmas Trees are biodegradable they tend to be easy to get rid of. Most cities' waste disposal programs will either have a pick up service or a drop off location for your tree. In my area I can just leave my tree by the recycle can and it is picked up and turned into mulch. They request that it is free of all ornamentation and if taller than 6 feet cut in half. This site PickYourOwnChristmasTree.org and ChristmasTree.org both have state by state listings of how you can recycle your tree, or you can try your local chamber of commerce, mayors office, or in some cities even the local boy scout programs.

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