Greener Ways to Get Rid of Your Christmas Tree

Christmas has come and gone and many people will be taking down their trees this weekend. But then what?

Want to do something better with your Christmas tree than just leave it by the curb for trash day? There are greener options for your evergreen.

One fantastic way to recycle your Christmas tree is mulching it at Home Depot.

Every year Home Depot collects undecorated trees after the holidays and turns them into mulch.

Typically the first weekend in January (check the Home Depot Facebook page for the announcement of their 2020 date) they pick a Saturday to let customers bring their trees in and drop them off for mulching.

I don't believe you get to keep the mulch, but you do get to know you recycled your tree and kept it out of a landfill.

Another local option for your tree is burying it at the beach.

A recent report from Brown University, showed that the local coastline is slowly but surely eroding away. They say burying Christmas trees in the beach helps stabilize the local shoreline by giving the sand something to hold onto.

I'm pretty sure this isn't something you can just drive to the beach and do with your tree, but checking with parks and recreation in your town could give you a new place to donate your tree.

And speaking of new places for your tree, how about giving it to a goat to eat?

ABC6 reported on a Coventry, RI farm that is looking for trees and wreaths for their goats to eat.

Seems the goats love every part of the Christmas trees and the pines offer them a healthy source of vitamin C.

Or you can cut off the branches for a variety of green uses.

Gardeners say laying the branches around flowers and plants can help insulate them from the harsh, cold winter weather and help you get better plants come spring.

Fish lovers add that placing branches in your fish tank or pond (once you fully clean them) gives fish a place to hide and relax.

And then you can take the tree trunk and use it in your outdoor firepit.