Each holiday season around 10 million live Christmas trees are sent to dump sites in the United States. As the holiday season comes to a close, many families face the dilemma of what to do with their used trees. Rather than throwing them away, there are a number of sustainable options that help protect the planet while supporting community gardens.
Once the holidays are done, there are lots of great ways to reuse your Christmas trees! Jessica Damiano, a gardening expert, suggests reusing Christmas tree branches in various ways. People can cut off the branches one at a time with garden pruners. This approach not only facilitates safe disposal, but it prevents needle litter from accumulating on the ground outside the home. Doing it this way allows you to more easily move the tree outdoors without creating a mess in the process.
Perhaps the most helpful way to go about reusing your Christmas tree branches is by using them in the garden as mulch. And needles and twigs make great insulation to keep soil temperatures steady. They insulate expensive spring bulbs and perennial root crowns from severe winter freeze-thaw cycles. By cutting branches into smaller pieces and leaving them in place, they can naturally decompose, enriching the soil over time.
You can cut logs from Christmas trees into sections and dry them over the winter. This whole process will net you some great localized firewood for backyard fire pits. Its comforting burn makes it a great choice for gatherings large and small, helping to dispose of your old Christmas tree in the process. Making sure these segments are anchored allows them to resist the forces of strong winter winds that can lead to naïve tipping.
The environmental destruction caused by dumping Christmas trees and the like can be extreme. Anaerobic decomposition in landfills happens very slowly, and at the same time it creates greenhouse gases like methane and carbon dioxide. In addition, illegal dumping practices can introduce pollutants into groundwater, endangering the surrounding environment.
Repurposing Christmas trees benefits our environment by keeping them out of landfills while offering households free winter mulch and firewood. These sustainable practices just make good sense, environmentally and economically. They get people to think critically about their waste management decisions, particularly around the holiday season.
