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 Decades ago — far too many to count — my parents made the misstep of moving their family to a farm in upstate New York. Along the way they made an assortment of mistakes common among those who uproot their family from a primarily urban setting to a rural one. Chief among them was my mother disposing of the Christmas tree the way neighbors had instructed her to: by burning it.
My mother set to work burning the tree in a poorly defined firepit on the multi-acre property and wandered away. What she realized only moments later when she returned to check on the fire’s progress was that she effectively ignited one acre of land, the charred remains of which were evident well beyond our year-long experiment of living there.
Today there are a host of options for Christmas tree disposal beyond the landfill and most of them are environmentally friendly solutions not likely to result in the embarrassment of becoming known as the family whose matriarch set fire to their property one cold January morning.
Mulch it
By mulching a Christmas tree, you can return the carbon captured in the wood of the tree to the soil in your yard. This will benefit the surrounding vegetation — and with virtually no risk to life or limb.
Donate it
Live near a zoo? Some zoos and animal sanctuaries welcome the gift of your old tree. Often, they are burned — in a safe and contained fire — to keep animal enclosures warm during the winter months.
Drop it
Some companies, Home Depot, for instance, will take your discarded tree and put it through the wood chipper to help dispose of it.
Submerge it
Christmas trees can also be submerged in local bodies of water to help to nurture fish populations by offering them new habitats and by offering smaller fish refuge from larger predators. (But check your local regs. I refuse to be held responsible for people damming up the Hudson River.)
Toss it
Placing a discarded Christmas tree in a brushy section of your yard will offer wildlife an additional habitat.
Beach it
Some coastal regions accept the donation of Christmas trees to help rebuild storm-damaged beaches. The Christmas trees reportedly help to rebuild critical sand dunes.
How do you dispose of your Christmas tree?
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