The Eco-Friendly Approach: Recycle Your Real Christmas Tree

Christmas is over and you’re ready to get rid of that real Christmas tree. But what do you do with a real tree after the holidays? Here are some ideas for what to do with your pine tree after Christmas:

Recycle: Recycling programs exist in many parts of the country. Check with your local municipality or city hall to see if they have an option available. Many cities will collect trees and use them as mulch or compost. If you live in a neighborhood that has a lot of trees and no recycling program, you can always ask around and see if anyone wants your tree and will be able to reuse it themselves.

Giving Back to Mother Nature: Donate Your Tree to a Local Park

There are several companies that will collect your tree from your home and recycle it for you. These companies include:

Bethlehem Steel Corporation’s Recycled Trees Program – Bethlehem Steel Corporation’s program collects real trees from residents in Pennsylvania and New Jersey cities with curbside recycling programs and recyclable services provided by Waste Management Incorporated (WM). The trees are chipped into mulch and used for community beautification projects in towns throughout the region.

The Home Depot Real Tree Returns Program – The Home Depot offers customers who purchased a real tree through their online store the opportunity to return their tree free of charge at any Home Depot store nationwide through January 31st, 2019. Each returned real tree will be recycled into wood chips that will be used as an organic fertilizer by local farmers across North America.

Donate: Giving back is always nice, especially during the holidays! There are many organizations that accept donations of pines such as Habitat For Humanity ReStores, Salvation Army Stores and other charitable organizations who give back to the community in different ways depending on where you live.

Rebuild: If you live near a forested area, consider taking your tree back into the woods so that it can be used as firewood by another family — or just leave it there for wildlife to enjoy (but not eat).

Turn it into mulch: If you have a backyard or garden, consider cutting up your tree into small pieces, then use it as mulch for your flowers and plants.

Use it as firewood: If you have a fireplace or wood stove, burn your tree for heat during the winter months.

Create crafts out of it: Cut up small branches from your tree and use them to create wreaths or other holiday decorating projects that you can use year after year.

Make bird feeder stakes out of it: If you have a birdbath, bird feeder or outdoor fountain or pond, consider using your Christmas tree as stakes for these decorations. Cut off any branches that might interfere with birds feeding from the feeder or could cause injury if they flew into them while bathing in the water feature.

If you don’t have time to take care of your tree right away, leave the lights and decorations on and place it in its stand somewhere cool, dry and well-ventilated (inside is best). It’s also important that moisture doesn’t build up around the base of your tree; wrap some newspapers around the bottom if needed so that water doesn’t collect there.