How To: Recycle Your Christmas Tree (Disposing Live Conifers After the Holidays)

Christmas is almost over— all of the presents are unwrapped, all of the prime ribs have been eaten, the whole family's drunk off eggnog— and soon it will be time to forget about Christmas until next year.

Once the party's over, you're stuck with cleaning up all the shredded wrapping paper, washing the hundreds of dishes that accumulated, taking down the holiday decorations, storing the Christmas lights until next year, and putting your needle shedding Christmas tree... um... where?

You don't know what to do with that Christmas tree, do you?

That natural evergreen tree is always the biggest problem for families after Christmas.  No one ever knows exactly what to do with it.  Until now.

There's a website called Pick Your Own Christmas Tree that has an article devoted to recycling your dying Christmas tree. 

Many cities and counties have recycling services to put your old Christmas tree to new life as a wildlife sanctuary, on a sand dune to protect the beach, chipped for mulch or as a bird feeder.

But how do you get rid of it?  Does somebody collect it?  Do you drop it off?

Here are your general recycling options:

1. Curbside pick-up for recycling - Most areas will collect trees during their regular pickup schedules on the 2 weeks following Christmas.  There are often requirements for size, removing ornaments, flocking, etc.
2. Call for an appointment to have a non-profit in your area pickup your tree.  Some boy scout troops are offering a pickup service for a small donation (often $5).
3. Take your tree to a drop off recycling center.  Most counties have free drop-off locations throughout the county.  Usually, you may take up to two trees to any of the following drop-off locations at no charge.
4. Cut the tree to fit loosely into your yard waste container.

If you live in L.A. County, simply visit the Christmas Tree Recycling website by the City of Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation.

To learn more great tips and ideas for properly disposing of your Christmas tree elsewhere, visit Pick Your Own Christmas Tree.  They also have a list of places to contact in each of the 50 states, with links to all the information you could ever want when it comes to junking Christmas trees the right way.

Click through to read How to Recycle Your Christmas Tree After the Holidays