Six Creative Ways to Recycle Your Christmas Tree

By Andy Corbley.

25-30 million Christmas trees are sold every year in North America, and many of them get tossed in the landfill when there is a myriad of great recycling ideas for fir trees that can have an important impact on local ecosystems and neighborhoods.

The month leading up to Christmas can be so busy as to make you dizzy, but the few days after the most wonderful day of the year can be just as hectic. There are leftovers to eat, boxes to deal with, presents to sort, and a great big chunk of foliage that is taking up space in your living room.

Last January down in Virginia Beach, locals began bringing their Christmas trees to Chicho’s, a local restaurant looking to utilize them as a way to protect their beachfront town from storm surges.

Volunteers drove around Virginia Beach neighborhoods picking up trees and wreaths that were placed along the curbs, and depositing them in the parking lot behind the restaurant. The trees act as perfect “sand fences” capturing wind-blown sand grains in their needles and branches and preventing the erosion of sand off the beaches.

It’s a simple and effective way of building the dunes back up after storms like Hurricane Florence, when high winds battered the beaches of Croatan and Outer Banks.

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