What Can I Do With My Tree After the Holidays? Keep Your Tree Evergreen
You can give your holiday tree a new life cycle by keeping it out of a landfill. Trees are biodegradable and can be recycled. Having your tree recycled or repurposed reduces the environmental impact made during the holiday season. Giving trees a new life cycle by recycling requires the same effort as disposing of it in your trash bin but, you will be reducing landfill waste and carbon emissions. Trees can be repurposed and used for soil erosion barriers, shredded and made into mulch for parks, or made into fish feeders in ponds. Here are a few places in the Atlanta area helping to keep your tree evergreen.
- Keep Georgia Beautiful Foundation’s annual event for over 30 years Bring One for the Chipper has over 181 sites you can drop your tree. ATL Public Works has an event on January 7th Bring One for the Chipper & receive a FREE tree seedling or garden seed packet.
- The Home Depot has a tree recycling program nationwide in multiple locations on Jan 7th. They are also a part of Bring One for the Chipper in Georgia.
- Big John’s Christmas Trees a long serving Buckhead area tree lot will remove your tree for fee.
- DIY repurposing can include turning it into a bird feeder in your backyard, create a yard design by propping it or laying it down for animals to enjoy, use a saw to turn it into fireplace yule logs, or use the branches as a shelter for pollinators in the garden they hold moisture in to help build viable soil.
Remember to remove all tinsel, lights, decorations, tree stands, and no flocking spray. Recycling or repurposing your holiday tree is an eco-action with substantial benefits. With 25% more waste produced from Thanksgiving until the New Year, keeping your tree from the landfill will cut the holiday carbon footprint considerably.
“A true selfless act always sparks another.” — Klaus, “Klaus”
