Don’t Trash Your Tree

If you're like me and approximately 30 million other households and businesses in America, you've got a pretty tree sitting in your living room or entry way. Whether or not you plan on stretching its lifetime through valentine’s day or just through the new year, don’t trash it, recycle it!

Here in the Pioneer Valley, almost all of the Transfer Stations and Recycling Centers will accept your tree.

To find a recycling center near you, visit Earth911.com. They have a great search engine: just plug in your zip code and what you want to recycle and voila!

Some places differ but, in general, do NOT put your tree in a bag or wrap it up in anything. And make sure you remove all your ornaments and lights! Call your local center for hours and details

Most centers will chop your tree up into mulch but, sometimes, they’re used more inventively. For example, the National Christmas Tree Association wrote,

Forced out of their native habitats by development, herons and egrets began to overcrowd the Baker's Lake Nature Reserve, which is owned by the Forest Preserve District of Cook County[Illinois]. In the process, the birds also destroyed much of the natural vegetation at the nesting site.

To recreate a home for the birds, the District, in cooperation with the Citizens for Conservation, uses Christmas Trees to create nesting structures. Annually, the project uses 300-400 recycled Christmas Trees to attract hundreds of pairs of great blue herons, great egrets, cormorants and black-crowned night herons to the rookery.

For more stories about creative Christmas Tree recycling, visit ChristmasTree.org

Alternatively, if you have room in your yard, you can use your Christmas Tree to create your own bird-friendly winter vending machine:

• place your tree in a bucket with rocks or sand as a base and then decorate your tree with bird-friendly items
• pine cones spread with peanut butter and rolled in bird seed (use only natural cones — no paint or glitter)
• orange halves, hollowed-out and filled with crumbs and seeds
• popcorn and berries on a string
• donut on a string (sandwiched between 2 plastic lids for stability)
• stale bread cut into shapes
• scraps of ribbon and yarn for nesting materials