The Christmas tree is probably the best and one of the most enchanting seasonal decorations of all time. It has been a part of every person’s home and life throughout Christmas, and an object of dream and wonder for children in awe of their first sight of a brightly colored Christmas tree. Some people around the world are so into Christmas decors mainly because of the Christmas tree, but unfortunately even if you put up your tree after Halloween or even at the beginning of autumn by January after the celebration of the three kings you will have to take it all down, take the ornaments off one by one and return them to their boxes. If you have a fake tree, you will box that up as well and store it until next Christmas season.
Dumping the Christmas tree out on the curb for waste pickup in January is all too common of a practice. Instead of turning over your tree for yard waste, why not try some of these ideas for Christmas tree recycling it? There are many possibilities with the tree – the simplest would be to participate in your city’s Christmas tree recycling program.
Check with your city or energy utilities to see if they have a Christmas tree recycling program in place. Generally, trees should be cleaned of all decorations, tinsel, and lights. Some recycling programs do not accept flocked trees, but most do.
San Francisco regularly recycles Christmas trees. The city recycled nearly 500 tons of trees in 2011, providing energy to power 20,000 houses for a month.
If your community has rivers, ponds, or other waterways, your tree can be sunk and turned into an excellent refugee for fish and to help prevent soil erosion.
You can mulch your tree for the garden, or use the wood shavings to create a pathway.
Christmas Tree Recycling Arts and Crafts Ideas
If you are an affectionado for the smell of a freshly cut fir or pine Christmas tree, then there are loads of things you can it with by recycling it to create a new and beautiful ornament for every season of the year that you don’t even have to remove it as part your permanent entourage of home decors. Christmas tree recycling is important since it if you do the math how many seasons or occasions there are when you need a Christmas tree multiplied by the number of people who actually chop them down to use a real live one then the sum would be appalling and yes quite destructive to our forests and environment. So recycling is one cheap way of using that tree without having to buy one over and over again or worst chop one down over and over again. You can ask help from family and friends to help you with your project too! it can be one form of bonding for the weekends after the busy holidays.
Here are some hints and ideas for Christmas tree recycling, what to do with your Christmas tree after Christmas:
- Christmas trees can be recycled into anything you take a fancy to from creating a tiny replica of The Hobbit’s cottage to a miniature sized fairy house.
- For those who practice nature or earth based religion you can make a wand out this magical tree which has been used for good purposes in its past form.
- You can make a small book ends out of its trunk if you are crafty with crafting tools then the possibilities are endless for you.
- Other than using it as a kindling for your fire place you can create a pretty nest for the birds in your garden as a way of giving back to nature what you have taken from it.
- Christmas trees can also be chopped down to be used as compost although you have to chop it into smaller pieces to make it easier to use. You can use it in your new garden or on your garbage area or where your animals usually “eliminate their wastes” to ensure the area wont smell nasty. These are great in covering up smells especially strong ones that just couldn’t be removed by disinfectant sprays alone.
- You can use the leaves for scrapbooking, dye the leaves and paste it on pages. If you want you can dye it according to season’s colour and decorate even your journal with it.
- You can use the leaves as real part of your landscape paintings to give a touch of real life. It will be as unique and as pretty as those leaves you paint. Just spray the leaves with a preserving agent to make sure the leaves wont brown eventually. At the same time frame it and make sure the frames are air tight and water tight so no moisture can form inside it which can do great damage on your artwork from causing your pages to turn brown or yellow from the acid activated on the paper by moisture in the same process causing your real Christmas leaves to wilt, and rot.
- You can use your tree as a representation of Easter. Originally in the story “The True Meaning of Christmas” the pine tree is used as a Christmas tree in order to be a reminder that we should do what the pine tree does every year, to look up to heaven and have faith all year round because pine tree leaves always face heaven ward. Now what if you combine that symbol along with Easter to create a new meaning. Have faith in new life and new beginnings all year round. Easter means new beginnings. Spruce up your tree with Easter bunny and chocolate eggs, some painted eggs and prizes too for the children. It would be fun if they can take off the sweets themselves on the tree.
- You can also make the baby Jesus’ hay bed from it and sculpt animals figurines from its trunk
- If you have a huge tree you can make a small table or even one shelf from it
- You can also organize a drive to have the chopped off Christmas trees in your community taken away by hired help in disposing them. You have to plan for it and meet up with your neighbours and designate tasks in disposing, payment for those who will dispose them too!
- You can also use these trees as a wreath for every season’s celebration like Yule, Candlemas, Thanksgiving, and finally an Easter wreath. There are no rules or limits as to which season, occasion, celebration or cause you can recycle your Christmas tree.
As long as you are willing to put in time, patience and effort there are so many things you can do with so much ideas to reuse your Christmas tree. With a few willing helpers you may even create something unusual and beautiful out of it from crafts to a wood sculpture. The possibilities never end as long as you view Christmas tree recycling as part of the process of creating something new and useful out it. that should be enough to fuel or spark an inspiration.
Share Your Own Christmas Tree Recycling Ideas
Have an idea for Christmas tree recycling we missed? Share it with other recyclers in the comments below!