What do they do with Christmas trees after Christmas? Their afterlife - USA TODAY

• Christmas trees marque for precocious prime mulch and compost material.
• Different regions whitethorn person antithetic uses for Christmas trees aft the holidays.
• Most municipalities connection Christmas histrion recycling programs.

The histrion stands gangly successful the surviving room. It faithfully serves its newfound home, giving structure to the neatly wrapped boxes that swarm its base. It wears shiny ornaments and agleam lights. It’s picture-worthy. It’s this year’s Christmas tree. 

Roughly 30 cardinal Christmas trees are sold each year, according to the National Christmas Tree Association.

But what happens to them erstwhile the vacation is over? There is nary North Pole for these trees to instrumentality to, similar Santa Claus and his reindeer.

What astir the trees that ne'er made it into a home?

It turns retired the Christmas histrion gives conscionable arsenic overmuch aft the holidays arsenic it does during. 

What happens to unsold Christmas trees? 

Not each fir histrion makes it to a cozy home. Some ne'er marque it retired of the workplace oregon the parking lot. But they each typically stock the aforesaid fate.

“The biggest endpoint for unused Christmas trees…is conversion into mulch,” said Richard Bates, a horticulture prof who teaches a people connected Christmas histrion absorption astatine Pennsylvania State University. 

“There are virtually thousands of established programs operated usually by municipalities oregon community-based groups that volition cod and past spot and compost them –  and sometimes even resell that end-use product,” Bates told USA TODAY. 

What should I bash with my Christmas tree? 

You should find 1 of these programs successful your country and recycle your Christmas histrion erstwhile the holidays are over, experts recommend.  Most cities and counties connection curbside pick-up oregon provide Christmas histrion drop-off sites, according to Jill Sidebottom, spokesperson for the National Christmas Tree Association. 

The metropolis of San Diego takes successful northbound of 70,000 Christmas trees from residents done its recycling program, according to Ed Baskin, who helps tally the program. 

Baskin said trees thin to nutrient precocious prime wood chips and mulch. In San Diego, the metropolis uses the mulch and compost worldly produced from the trees successful its parks and offers the merchandise to residents for free. 

Trees find caller afterlife purposes depending connected wherever they are. Some localities, for example, cod the trees to combat formation erosion.

And immoderate municipalities even deposit the trees successful a pond because they marque a large situation for tiny fish, according to Bates. 

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When should I instrumentality my Christmas histrion down? 

There is nary definitive reply to this question.

Most radical instrumentality their histrion down aft the caller year. Some Christmas traditions telephone for keeping the histrion up astatine slightest done Epiphany connected Jan. 6, erstwhile the 3 kings arrived successful Jerusalem, according to Sidebottom. 

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For safety’s sake, it’s champion to support your histrion greenish and caller by watering it done its full beingness cycle. A dried retired histrion successful the location poses a occurrence hazard. Dry trees are besides harder to mulch, according to Baskin. Be definite to region immoderate ornaments and decorations earlier recycling your histrion arsenic well.