After the holiday season is over, most people want to pick up their decor as soon as possible. Nothing feels better, to me, than starting the new year with a fresh and clean home. Our family loves to buy a real tree and for many years, I never knew what to do with it after the New Year. I hate being wasteful, so I now turn to these six different ways to recycle a Christmas tree around the house!
Being resourceful makes me feel good. Our flocked Christmas tree costs upward of $300 every year, so recycling the tree helps to stretch our family dollar a bit more. I don’t have the best green thumb and I’m not the type of person who is worried about my carbon footprint, but these are great eco-friendly ways to recycle a Christmas tree.
You want to take down your Christmas tree as soon as it starts to dry out. You want to prevent a Christmas tree fire by taking the tree out of the house when it dies.
How To Recycle A Christmas Tree After The Holiday Season
When Christmas is over, don’t throw your tree in the trash. You *can* do that and many trash services accept Christmas trees, but there are better ways to repurpose your tree. Real Christmas trees are naturally biodegradable. With a little bit of effort, you can use that your tree for mulch and other purposes.
Never burn your Christmas tree in a fireplace or stove – for safety reasons.
Curbside Christmas Tree Pick Up
If you have no use for using your Christmas tree around the house, many cities offer free curbside Christmas tree pick up services where you can call to schedule. It’s usually offered two weeks after Christmas and there are strict rules about size and flocking. All you have to do is get your tree to the curb.
There are also non-profit organizations that will pick up your tree for a small donation fee. Boy Scouts of America have offered this service for a $5 donation.
Trade Your Christmas Tree For Mulch
Many local mulching programs offer tree pick services after the holiday season. They will take your Christmas tree and, in exchange, you get mulch for your garden. Check with your local department of public works for information. You have to schedule a date for the tree to be hauled away.
Recycle A Christmas Tree To Become A Fish And Bird Feeder
Did you know that you can sink a Christmas tree into water and it becomes a great refuge and feeder for fish? You can easily do that in a local pond.
Another option is to place your dead tree in your backyard as a refuge for birds. You can hang dried orange slices on it and put bird feeders nearby. They’ll make a habitat from the tree and eventually you’ll be able to break the branches by hand. Make it a smaller habitat year after year until it’s gone.
Make A Pathway For Your Yard
Use the branches as a renewable and natural pathway for walkways in your yard. You can refresh and replenish it year after year – when you recycle your next Christmas tree. It also doubles as a safe product for animals to be around.
Christmas trees are also great for preventing erosion. You can stabilize areas that need assistance by properly placing the tree where support is needed.
Keep Your Christmas Tree Alive And Plant It
If your Christmas tree is still in great shape, you can actually plant it. Get a rooted (ball and burlap or containerized) tree and plant it in your yard. If you can plan ahead, dig the hole in the late fall while the soil is still soft. You can then use that hole after Christmas to plant it. Living trees have a better survival rate in mild climates.
Use It As Firewood For An Outdoor Fire Pit
Your Christmas tree is great fuel for an outdoor fire. Cut off the branches to use as kindling, and cut the trunk into logs. Our family has done this and enjoyed a winter night of s’mores after the holiday season has passed.