Recycle Your Christmas Tree

Did you have a live tree for Christmas? If you did, please recycle it instead of throwing it in a landfill or leaving on your curb for trash pick up. There are SO MANY ways to recycle Christmas trees! I will mention a few here but you can also go on the Internet and search for lots of recycling ideas.

My favorite ways are animal related. Did donating your tree to a zoo or animal sanctuary come to your mind? I found out that many animals wild and domestic love to eat or play with the trees. Maybe you know someone who has goats. Goats love eating Christmas trees. It's VERY important to donate only natural trees without chemicals on them. 

There are lots of crafts you can make. An easy one to make is to saw thin level slices of the trunk and paint them with polyurethane to make coasters. Put little felt tips under them.

Sprigs from your tree can be used in live flower arrangements. You can add them to any arrangement to give it a winter look such as with these white tulips pictured below.

A permanent way to recycle your tree is to plant it in your yard. I had a neighbor who planted their Christmas tree in their yard decades ago. It lived and has grown into a huge tree. Be sure you plant it in an area for potential large growth. You can also decorate it for the wild birds. Seed balls, suet cakes, peanuts, etc will be a welcomed treat for them! You'll enjoy watching them too.

Whatever you do, make sure you have removed all lights, tinsel and ornaments. Other ways to recycle are to mulch, donate to a park, make fragrant sachets, make wreaths, etc. Check out ways to recycle your tree locally on earth911.com by clicking here. Search "Christmas trees" and enter your zip code.