New Life for Discarded Christmas Trees

  • Some municipalities have conservation uses for old Christmas trees. (Photo by Lester Graham)

Depending on how your Christmas went, your tree might have been out on the curb the day after the holiday. Or you might be getting around to taking it down now. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Melissa Ingells found that the trees play a useful role even after the decorations are gone:

Transcript

Depending on how your Christmas went, your tree may have
been out on the curb the day after the holiday. Or you may just
be getting around to taking it down now. The Great Lakes
Radio Consortium’s Melissa Ingells found that the trees play a
useful role even after the decorations are gone:


Landfills usually don’t accept Christmas trees, so cities and
community groups do their best to recycle them. Most people
take advantage of the service. Over 75-percent nationwide,
says Mel Koelling. He’s a Professor in the Department of
Forestry at Michigan State University. Koelling says the bulk
of the trees are processed into mulch.


“Mulch can go into parks for footpaths, into bicycle trails,
underneath swing sets and other playground equipment. Some
locations have homeowner policies where you bring home your tree and you
can take home a bag of mulch to put under your rose bushes or somewhere else.”


Koelling says some people use the trees for brush piles to
shelter wildlife. And anglers’ groups sometimes sink the trees
into lakes, where they provide a spawning area for fish. So,
that tree that graced your home last month could be improving
your garden, playground, or fishing spot in the months to come.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Melissa Ingells.